#I love Giovanni I swear

[morticia-mystic]

Flower, gleam and glow...

(cw: child abuse, toxic parent, running away)

"No ? What do you mean, no ?"

Mother Gothel questioned, her tone so cold it made Johnny's and Ginny's blood run ice cold.

"You can't hear me, mother, I said no. I'm not putting up with your bullshit anymore."

It was that time of night again, where mother sat down with her children between her legs and had them sing the same magical incantation that Rapunzel sang all those years ago that kept her youth as she brushed through their hair. Gothel had done this for years; each night she would alternate between her children and have them sing as she brushed. Some nights were worse than others, the ones that were the worst was when she'd get violently angry.

"I'm so sick, of being locked up in this fucking tower with you and your sick fucking mind. We're not fucking Rapunzel, Mother."

Giovanni motioned to him and his siblings

"And there's no fucking flower."

Giovanni was 12 as he stood in front of his mother. He had just gotten his second growth spurt, he stands now just at eye level.

Giovanni was going to speak again before there was a loud crack.

The sound of skin hitting skin.

It was Mother Gothel's open palm against Giovanni's hand

Johnny and Ginny wince, and Johnny grapples onto his older sister, hiding his face.

"You will never speak to me like that, Maggio, never."

Gothel scolded, but her voice was calm, eerily calm. Like a calm breeze blowing through a motionless woods.

Giovanni stared into his mother's eyes. He felt how his cheek stung, and how tears stabbed at his eyes, threatening to break from their invisible barrier and fall down his cheeks.

Giovanni stood there, vacant. Like a statue, his expression, frozen, for what felt life forever

Ginny and Johnny looked on in fear of what would happen next.

Mother seemed to come to after what felt like an eternity. Her face morphed into one of horror and disbelief.

"My poor child, what have you led me to do."

She soothed, as she embraced Giovanni, holding his head against her. She pulled his face away before she spoke again. She was inspecting

"I could have damaged your beauty, child. I wouldn't know what to do with myself. You see why you should lead me to anger, child."

Her tone sounded like that of a concerned mother but her words betrayed that tone.

Giovanni stared blankly, his countenance held no expression. He wasn't there, not mentally, he still stood vacantly.

"Come now child, let's go to the reflection room."

The reflection room was a room in the tower that was small, damp, and cold. There was only a mirror and the purpose of the room was to stare at your reflection and think whenever you did something that mother didn't like.

There was never any way of knowing how long you'd have to be in there.

When Giovanni heard the mention of that hellish room he broke from his mothers hold.

"No."

He spoke, his voice sounded distant, he still wasn't truly there.

"No."

He spoke again as he started to back away.

"Child, stop this foolishness."

Gothel grabbed his wrist and started to drag him towards the room.

"NO !"

Giovanni screeched as he fell to the floor and began struggling away from his mothers grasp.

"Giovanni, stop struggling. You need to reflect."

Gothel scolded as she continued to tug at him.

Giovanni struggled out old his mothers hold and ran.

He ran down the stairs and to his room. He slammed the door and quickly looked around for some form of barricade. He frantically searched his dilapidated room and moved his run down dresser (that was missing most of its original drawers) in front of his door.

At this age, Giovanni was already a master escapist (being locked up in a tower, it was a skill that was valuable). He made his way quickly to his closest and pulled out a small box that held the tools that aided him in his escape.

He took the rope from the box and secured it to something in his room. By the time he was able to tie the knot (his hands were shaking too badly to tie correctly the first time), mother had made it to his room, and was banging on the door.

"Open the door Maggio."

She yelled. Giovanni moved faster, he grabbed his shoes and threw them out of the window before frantically making his way to the window himself and beginning to scale the side of the tower he was forced to call home.

When his feet hit the ground, he hastily put on his shoes and began to run.

There were only two people for him to run to, Mal or Sarah of Spades...

Giovanni began to run in the direction of Bargain Castle.

[junebugdunes]

'nother doodle dump

[fatal-quiete-png]

My Italian literature teacher: Ah this poem is so embarrassing! why are we even supposed to read this!

My English literature teacher: This poem is about sex. and whores. also Shakespeare was hella gay

[mondo-tastic]

Do they match eachothers freak

[burnyouwithacigarettelighter]

TOEING THE LINE ─── robert fischer ✧𖦹

ೃ⁀➷ “Love him. Love him and let him love you. Do you think anything else under heaven really matters?” — ‘Giovanni’s Room’, James Baldwin.

pairing. robert fischer x secretary!reader

summary. being robert’s secretary means doing everything for him. everything.

warnings. swearing, oral sex (m), creampie, p in v, mention of handjob, sex as stress relief, intimacy issues, quickies, crying, fluff, SMUT UNDER THE CUT! 

word count. 6.8k

a/n. honestly this is just downright filth. robert & reader’s relationship/the way they treat each other is also a little confusing so i apologize LOL

i. 

Being Robert’s secretary means doing everything for him: sending congratulatory gifts to his clients, picking up his drycleaning, answering his emails, and even booking his dentist appointments.

It means doing everything he asks, and everything you think he needs; he trusts your judgment, he said, because you know more about him than anyone in the entire world — even himself. 

It means doing everything for him. Everything.

Robert had heaved a large sigh as he sat down in the backseat of his car; undone his tie; ran a veiny hand through his gelled hair. From that much, you could tell he was stressed. You knew him like the back of your hand, and, after being his secretary for three years, you also knew what relieved him best.

Your lips are wrapped around his cock the moment he gets home. 

You were kneeling between his legs, hands curling around the base of his cock and stroking whatever you couldn’t fit - which wasn’t much, your throat having long since been trained to take his length all the way. 

Grunts and groans spilled out of his mouth above you, but you didn’t look at him; you never looked at him - he’d been adamant about that, when you first sucked him off. Robert never told you why, just that your gaze should never reach his; you thought it had something to do with his vulnerability, his parental issues rearing its ugly head in every part of his life, even his sexual one. 

Robert’s hands wrapped around your wispy locks, giving you a makeshift ponytail, and you flicked small licks on his tip before descending back down on him. His grip on your hair tightened, and as you curled your warm tongue along his shaft, he began to bob your head up and down on him, faster, harder, hard enough tears formed in your eyes. 

He was stressed, so he was rough. But you took it in stride: he was your boss, after all, paying you the big bucks for your service, be it actual secretarial duties or requests just a step away from prostitution. 

You gag, once or twice, on account of how brutally the head of his cock is bruising the back of your throat, and Robert slows down; stills like he’s nervous you’ll break, but you continue expertly, focussing on lapping up the beads of precome spilling from his slit. You breathed in and out shakily, ignoring the ache in your jaw. 

His hands then left your hair, instead fumbling for the armrests of the leather chair and squeezing down on them as his back arched and his head threw back: he was close.

When one of your hands left his length and reached down to fondle his balls, Robert let go, a stuttered moan leaving him, and he released his load straight down your throat. You felt it spurt and coat your mouth, wet and thick. The only thing left in the room was your breathing, his high and tinny, yours haggard and desperate for oxygen. 

After a moment, you got up, noting how tight your legs felt while wiping a drop of come from the side of your mouth with your thumb. “Rest up, Mr. Fischer,” you insisted gently, resuming immediate professionalism, “you have a nine-o-clock with the head of Proclus Global tomorrow.”

Between breaths, Robert finally looked at you with heavy-lidded eyes, buttoning his dress pants back up. “Saito?” he wondered aloud. 

You nodded silently in response. It was certainly odd to inform Robert about his schedule and meetings like you didn’t just have his hard cock in your mouth, but after three years it became part of the job. You reckon you could ride him and still arrange his doctors appointments by phone. 

“I’ll see you in the morning, Mr. Fischer.” You addressed him with that title, ‘Mr. Fischer’, to keep a distance. Despite what you often did for him, you still considered yourself just his subordinate; just his secretary. 

You then turned, kitten heels clacking quietly on his hardwood floor, primly and properly leaving his condo with the taste of his salty come still imprinted on your tongue. 

ii. 

By eight am sharp, you’ve returned to his condo. Robert would need a little more than what he got last night, especially since he’d be meeting Saito, like you said. 

You mapped out his habits and what he was like a long, long time ago. He’s got a higher-than-average sex drive, but no time to be in a relationship with anyone — thus, your duties. Blowjobs after a long day and a quickie at least five times a week are a must, and never, ever, kiss him. 

Robert’s… well, a slight sex addict, having to regularly fuck or get pleasured just to keep sane, but intimacy’s got him hiding under the covers like he’s just seen a ghost. You, on the other hand, can’t discern the difference between if you have sex and kiss or just have sex - it's both sex. 

It’s just a thing that needs to be done in the end, and in Robert’s case, it’s like eating or sleeping: he needs it to live, so he gets it and lives. Simple as that. There are no feelings between you two, and it’s been that way for as long as you’ve been his secretary. 

You entered Robert’s condo easily, having a key and all, where you then found him pacing in his large walk-in closet, fiddling with his rings. 

You knocked lightly on the wall to alert him, stepping in when he noticed you and visibly relaxed. “Good morning, Mr. Fischer.” you stated, setting his drycleaning down on one of the velvet settee benches in the middle of the room. 

“Morning,” Robert said absently. Without warning nor another word, he stepped closer to you, hands immediately pressing into your waist. His palms were sweaty, a feverish need radiating off him as he kneaded at you, pressing you against one of the many closet doors. 

He was nervous, no doubt the result of the impending meeting with Saito, which equated a frenzied mood sexually. So, you wasted no time, quickly unbuckling his trousers and unzipping his fly, letting your stockings pool at your ankles, hiking your skirt up to your hips. 

Robert’s hands grasped at your soft thighs, lifting a leg around him as one of your hands slipped down the waistband of his underwear, pulling his cock out. You pumped his length slowly, before spitting into your other hand, pushing your panties to the side and coating your cunt in the slick. You decorated your lips with the wetness, then carefully lined up his thick head with your entrance. 

You bit your lip, wincing as he pushed in; no matter how many times you’d fucked — which was plenty — you always felt that stinging stretch when he first entered you. 

From then on, Robert focussed solely on his own pleasure; on ridding himself of that anxious need, trying to fuck his insecure feelings deep into your cunt prior to seeing Saito. He grunted, a string of breathless curses leaving his mouth with every harsh thrust, just snapping his hips against yours repeatedly and chasing his high. 

Your face was pressed flat against the shoulder of his cashmere suit jacket, and you shut your eyes, letting Robert use you - use your hole, specifically. You’d asked him once why he didn’t just masturbate or use a sextoy, and he told you that nothing beats a hot, wet cunt. 

It didn’t matter to him what the girl looked like or what she cost, as long as her pussy felt good. That’s how he hired you: you’d spent an entire month by his side, and before returning to America from his vacation in Sydney, he confessed he’d never taken a cunt as delicious as yours. He didn’t have time to date, but he did have time for a secretary. 

That was the most vulnerable you’d ever seen him, pleading for you to work under him, just so he could feel your plush pussy clenching around his cock once more. You’d never been a secretary before, but he promised you’d be taught, that the pay would be good, and that once he got married you could be whatever you wanted in the company - as long as, while you were still his secretary, you’d fuck him when he asked.

“Fuck,” Robert growled out near your ear, pounding mercilessly into your sopping cunt. Despite the selfishness of this quickie, him paying absolutely no mind to you, you couldn’t help how your mouth went ajar and your hips rutted into his. 

Robert had the best dick you’d ever fucking felt, average length but girthy, stretching you wide open. That first time you’d fucked, the one night stand, he kept telling you how tight your cunt was around his thick cock, and the next time after that, he remarked how you were just as tight as before. He was impressed, it seemed, how after each round of splitting you open with his dick, you always seemed to tighten back up.

You bit your lip, fighting back any moans from leaving your mouth, and focussed on gripping your arms around Robert’s neck. You noted how one of his hands dug into you soft thighs, pulling you toward him and sliding in and out of you desperately, like he’d never fuck again, while his other hand came up to the crown of your head, petting you softly. 

Though your mind was foggy with pleasure, you knew it was an out-of-character gesture: being gentle with you, acknowledging your presence rather than just your cunt. Robert wasn’t a romantic man - you didn’t think he knew how to romance someone, especially since his parents' marriage certainly wasn’t winning any awards for perfection.

So, just doing that had the gears in your mind turning. You’d fucked him for three years straight, and not for a moment did he ever do something like that. 

But then, as you were building toward an orgasm, that familiar pull in your stomach sending heat over your body, begging to go faster, Robert came, jetting his creamy load deep within you — and you forgot all about his odd actions. 

“Feel s’good,” he mumbled, fucking you still. You were unsure whether he meant his high or your cunt, but nonetheless, he came down from his orgasm by shoving his come deeper in your cunt with his length. 

Then, “What - time is it?” he said breathlessly, quickly pulling his softening cock out of your pussy and turning away so as not to face you. 

You blinked rapidly, leaning against the wall and trying to regain your composure, ignoring the grief swelling in your insides at the incompletion of your orgasm. “8– 8:10, sir.” 

Robert hummed in acknowledgment, still not looking at you as he redressed himself. You took in your boss’s form, how quickly his attitude changed from desperate to stone cold after sex; after receiving what he needed, like a fucking transaction, and you suddenly felt shameful: this here was one of the most powerful men in the world, owner of Fischer Morrow, and there you were, his secretary and fucktoy he could replace at any time. 

You weren’t special - you weren’t anything, especially not to him. If - no, when, he meets someone who pleasures him better, you’re out of a job. He said he’d help you when he got married, but you don’t think that’s happening anytime soon… and you know Robert: he’ll get tired of you, like the spoiled little kid he probably was, and will just find some other toy to play with. 

“I’ll be waiting in the lobby, Mr. Fischer.” you informed him numbly after pulling up your panties and stockings, shakily stepping out of the walk-in closet. It wasn’t often you felt like this - this being pathetic and used, because on the surface, this job was perfection. Good pay, good reputation, a boss who fucks you - and fucks you good. 

Sure, you could probably count on one hand how many times he made you come in these past three years, but it still felt nice, even if he never drove you past the edge. But, these days… you started wondering if this was the rest of your life. 

You couldn’t get a boyfriend, no, not without lying to him about what you did for a living, and there was still that uncertainty in the stability of this job. Robert had deep parental and intimacy issues - as stated by his therapist, in which, after eight weeks of seeing him Robert left in a fitful, teary, suffocating rage - and, beneath his cold exterior, was a hotpot of bubbling emotions he never deigned to reveal until he was seconds away from blowing up. 

In short: Robert was the most moody, unpredictable person you’d ever met, and working under him was like balancing on a tightrope. Because he never said what irritated him, always emotionlessly telling you to stop if he preferred you didn’t do something, you could never tell what was actually pushing all the wrong buttons. 

Before waiting in his condo’s front lobby like you said, you ducked into one of his many bathrooms and wiped the warm come dripping down your leg, flushing as you saw the ruined state of your panties and stockings: his white load had smeared all over the fabric, and, while you could get most of it off your dark stockings, it stayed on your underwear. 

You had to wear his come on your panties for the entire day, and in a way, it felt like Robert owned you. 

That’s why… you had decided to quit. You wrote your two weeks three months ago and have been holding onto it ever since — because you didn’t know how to tell him you wanted to quit, especially since your heart didn’t want to. 

Your head knew you were meant for more than secretarial duties and a quick fuck, but your heart ached for the lonely being that was Robert Fischer. That young CEO whose grievous relationship with his father was aired out in the newspaper, the man who went through succeeding the company as well as any young person could: fumbling, being crushed by the weight of his late father’s suffocating legacy, and the boy who didn’t know why he could never get his fathers love or approval. 

The heart wants what it wants, but the head knows best. You resolved to hand him your resignation by the end of the day, listening to your head, and got ready to leave this part of your life behind; to leave Robert Fischer behind. 

iii.

“What's this?” Robert asked in his office without looking up at you, gaze still trained on the papers he was signing. You had entered his office to deliver his mail and ask questions about various appointments - when best to schedule that lunch with his godfather, that kind of stuff. 

And… to hand him your 2-weeks. 

“It’s my 2-weeks, Mr. Fischer.” 

“…What?” Robert set his weighted fountain pen down, looking up in disbelief.

“I’m resigning, sir.” You said gingerly, gaze trailing away from his own, ignoring how his expression went from neutral to crestfallen.

“I pay you well enough, I’m sure?” He said, sounding frantic and not doing the best job of hiding it with the shaky smile on his face. 

“It’s not - about the pay. I’m just… I’m ready to do other things.” 

There it was: you didn’t want to wait until he got tired of you and kicked you to the curb. This job was fucking comfortable, and that unnerved you. Working diligently, fucking him diligently, saving up money your younger self would’ve never thought could ever come your way - it was comfortable and you were used to it, but you just… couldn’t take it anymore. 

You weren’t going anywhere like this. Not with Robert, not with your life, not with yourself. When you first took this job, you wanted to help him. Call it naive pity, but you thought the terribly mournful Robert Fischer could be fixed by getting fucked. God, your younger self had been out of her mind. 

So, here you were, three years later and resigning from one of the wealthiest men in the world, heart begging you not to, head wanting to leave immediately. 

Robert sighed, but nodded slightly. “Okay. Okay. I’ll send you your wages as soon as possible, and I can write a recommendation for your next—“

“There’s no need, Mr. Fischer,” you protested quietly. “My duties here weren’t exactly… just secretarial.”

Robert blanched, but agreed quietly. As you were about to leave, he spoke up. “Are you… free tonight?”

You tilted your head slightly, processing the topic change. “I have no plans for the evening, if that’s what you’re asking. I can come over after work—“

“No— no, not…” Robert grimaced, pressing two fingers between his eyes. “Proclus Global’s holding a charity gala. Tonight. Come with me; it’ll be your last event as my secretary.”

Your face warmed at your previous assumption he just wanted to fuck. “…Certainly, Mr. Fischer. There’s no need to ask, I’m obligated to agree.”

“I don’t… I don’t want to ruin any plans you have.” Robert’s lips pressed into a thin white line at your words. “If it - you don’t—“ He sighed, unable to say what he wanted properly, “You don’t have to say yes to everything I ask of you.”

“Work takes precedent, sir. You’re my boss - it’s only natural I follow orders.”

Then: “If that’s all,” you said, before promptly exiting his office, turning away and ignoring how crestfallen he looked. 

It was normal for you to accompany him to various events, seeing as he was single, and you were his hot, young secretary — and it was an expected duty of yours after the first time you went with him. 

You couldn’t figure out why his behavior had suddenly changed, why he’d become considerate— but perhaps it was because you were quitting. Although Robert’s emotional state was generally unpredictable, you supposed the professional part of him wanted to send you off nicely; have these last two weeks of yours not be soured. 

Anyway, it seemed inviting Robert to the gala was what Saito was here for - and, presumably, to add some pressure onto Robert, since their companies were rivals. Robert was always… bothered, you could say, prior to seeing Saito. 

The man made it a habit, consciously or unconsciously, to set Robert off, either by not-so-innocently referencing the late Maurice Fischer in their conversations, or by down right comparing Robert to him. It certainly wasn’t motivated by a personal grudge, no, Saito just wanted to see Fischer Morrow suffer, and for Proclus Global to rise. It was business politics, something you couldn’t - and didn’t want to - wrap your head around. 

The only thing you had in mind now was if you’d dressed up well enough: you had a small collection of gowns that you’d gathered over the years attending events with Robert, but every time, he gave you his card and told you to pick out something nice. You guessed that he was the kind of man who preferred to always show up in something new, something better — and that translated to whoever was perched on his arm.

That, being you, who’d bought a black satin and lace dress with a slit on the left thigh. You knew what Robert usually wore to these occasions, so you dressed accordingly - and it was an accurate foretelling, to say the least. When you’d entered Robert’s condo, he was standing in the lobby, strapping a Tudor onto his left wrist. He was head to toe in black satin, just as you were, hair neatly coiffed against his forehead. 

Your heels clacked loudly on the lobby tile, and he noticed your presence. “Black satin,” he scanned you up and down, “good.”

“Of course, Mr. Fischer.” You said politely, taking his arm when he lifted it up. The two of you headed to the car, and you didn’t miss how Robert opened the door for you first, like you really were his date for that night. 

His behavior throughout that entire day had been downright weird, and even more so now, because if you really pressed Robert, he’d tell you you were just a piece of eye candy for his clients to ogle over, so they’d lower their guards; get distracted and forget to pry him for information regarding the company. 

When you got to the event — which was taking place in a grand banquet hall in one of the many buildings Saito and his wife owned — a flock of people amassed, all greeting Robert and not-so-subtly alluding for him to head over to their table and discuss business matters. 

There were also various clients and colleagues of Robert’s who’d come over to catch up with the young CEO, and many of them commented, as usual, about the plus-one by his side. 

“And who’s this beautiful young lady?” One of the older men asked, raking his gaze all over you. It was clear as day: all of the men there were undressing you with their eyes. 

You didn’t shy away, however, instead smiling thinly. “I’m Mr. Fischer’s secretary,” you told the group, tilting your head slightly and baring your canines. They could stare at you all they liked, but you weren’t interested in letting them know much more about you than your position. 

It didn’t matter, anyway - finding out you were just his secretary made them see you differently. In whispered tones, they’d tell Robert they’d give anything to see you squirming beneath them, and he’d laugh a hollow laugh that didn’t reach his eyes and certainly didn’t come from the heart. To keep up appearances, buttering up his clients and letting them believe he was an easygoing guy, Robert would agree good-naturedly, but not without looking abashed, like he was too professional to actually ever breach that line. 

Like his hand hadn’t disappeared from your arm, trailing across your backside and groping the soft fat of your ass, digging into you. Like you hadn’t stroked his cock in the car, gently pumping him with your spit-slicked hand.  

You then broke away from Robert and the large group of businessmen to chase after a waiter who was holding a tray of champagne. In doing so you found out that Saito’s wife was, really, the main host of this charity ball when she, and several other women and wives of said business men, crowded around you, not unlike their husbands did to Robert. 

You greeted them kindly, blandly replying to their invasive questions: no, I’m just Mr. Fischer’s secretary, no, he is not accepting marriage proposals, sure, I can set up a meeting between you and one of our energy advisors if you give Fischer Morrow a call tomorrow. 

You let them talk circles over themselves, silently nodding, for Robert always reminded you to speak as little as possible. It would do no good for them to assume you and Robert were together —  they’d tear you apart. 

When the conversation drew its focus away from you entirely, you skittered away to find the waiter from earlier. An hour or two had passed since you’d arrived at the gala, and you indulged, letting yourself down a couple more glasses of that addictive drink. You were just about to grab one more, when you conveniently reunited with your boss and date for the night. 

Robert looked peeved, perhaps something to do with how boisterously Saito was laughing across the hall, and in a moment of quick thinking, you pulled him closer to you. “Mr. Fischer,” you whispered, voice tranquil, “if all has been accomplished for the night, I suggest we take our leave.”

He looked up at you, oddly, like he was seeing you for the first time. “Yes,” he agreed quietly, “yes… you’re quite right.” 

Without any goodbyes, the two of you swiftly hooked arms once more, and exited the building. The cool night air bristled around you, nipping at your skin, and Robert’s hands dropped from your arm, instead slipping into your own and keeping you close to him. 

At the car, he opened the door for you again, helping you in gently, before sliding in on the opposite side. When you turned to face him, he absently brushed something out of your hair with his long, nimble fingers. “Dust,” he said simply, peering deep into your eyes. 

You stared back at him, but your thoughts were elsewhere. He’d never toed the line like this before; 

he’d never looked you in the eyes so much, held your hand, plucked something out of your hair or pet you or held you so close — out of the context of sex —  that you could smell his cologne. He had never been so compassionate, so romantic, like this relationship of yours was organic and authentic, not transactional and emotionless. 

The car ride back to his condo was quiet. His hand did not find yours again, not even to hungrily snake up your thigh and under your skirt — Robert was frozen, staring out the window and nowhere at all meeting your gaze. 

Finally, when you got back to his place, you trailed after him — he trusted you to do what he asked and to do what you thought he needed, and that look of vexation he’d had before leaving only meant one thing to you: he was bothered, and a bothered boss does not mean good business. 

When you’d both entered his bedroom, Robert stopped, and turned to face you. His hands found yours, tenderly slipping his fingers into your own and pulling you close to him, and you backtracked. 

“Mr. Fischer?” You murmured, feeling how his rough skin brushed against you. “What are you… doing?” you questioned, your mind filled to the brim with the same question: what was Robert feeling right now? About you? For you?

He called your name out softly, like it was the only word he knew, shining blue eyes examining you intensely and flicking down to your lips every so often. “Don’t quit. I - I… need you.” 

Your brows knitted - so it was about your resignation. “Mr. Fischer, you don’t need me, you… you need sex, you need someone to - to fuck you—“ You protested, wrenching yourself away from his grip.

“No! No. I don’t need you like that. I need you, not - not your fucking cunt, I - can’t live without you.” Robert’s hands pulled you back to him, holding you close like you’d crumble into ash if he didn’t. 

Then, he kissed you, soft lips benevolently pressing into your own, long and deep like he was trying to melt into your touch. He was slow and chaste but there was a hint of desperation in his saliva, like he wanted to consume you, and you him. 

You pulled back, alarmed, your chests rising and falling in sync. Robert had kissed you; he had crossed the line he vehemently set, the line he commanded be kept in place. You blinked, mouth opening and closing, unable to form words. 

“Robert,” You said at last. Robert, not Mr. Fischer. Not Mr. Fischer, not now, not with how quickly his face had fallen from feverish to devastated. “you don’t think you love me, do you?”

Robert’s brows furrowed. “Think?” He repeated incredulously. “Do I think I love you— god, I… I do love you. I don’t think I love you, I know I’m in love with you.”

You looked at him dolefully, willing your heart not to beat out of your chest. “But why? I am certain you can’t answer that, Robert, because you don’t love me, you are - are merely feeling abandoned—“

“I love you because you know more about me than anyone in the entire world—“

“That is my job, Robert—“

“No, it’s not, and you fucking know it. You did more than I’ve ever asked of you: you know me, Robert, not Mr. Fischer, CEO of Fischer Morrow. You know me.” His finger dug into his chest, enunciating each point, and you couldn’t help the way his words swayed you - consciously or not. 

In your silence, Robert continued. “And - and, I adore the way you think, how you laugh and how you see the world, how - how you understand people, people who’ve never had someone take the time to ever fucking do that. How you care. So - so… stay. Stay by my side.”

In the kiss, you two had found yourselves perched on his bed, and he looked at you, lips bitten between his teeth nervously. “Please,” he murmured, hand coming up to your cheek and meekly tracing shapes on your skin.

“…I can’t do this. Not with you. Robert, you - you don’t fuck a woman you say you love then pretend you didn’t.” You replied, shying away from his touch like he’d burnt you. 

“I - I didn’t want to push that on you, not when - when we were…” he trailed off, hands leaving you and instead scrubbing his grimacing face. 

“What, when I was your personal prostitute?”

“Don’t say it like that,” he said weakly, but didn’t protest. “I just… I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want you to think it was just another part of the job.”

“Is it not?” You questioned, watching his expression change and flit through several emotions. “You’re telling me you love me, and you’re asking me to keep being your secretary. Robert, is this not just part of my job?”

“It doesn’t have to be,” he pleaded. “It - you, can be more than that. You are the woman I worship and adore and - and will listen to, no matter what. So don’t leave.”

The words “me behind” did not come out of his mouth, but you felt it, like he etched it on your heart. Your eyes searched his own for even a semblance of fallacy — but it was so terribly real, truthful, that you felt a lump in the back of your throat form. 

You pressed your forehead to his own, trying to digest this information: the reveal of his feelings… and the remembrance of your own. 

His idealistic talk, his professions of love, his raw, long-suffering pleading made you remember the deep seated, stirring warmth in your heart that you’d beat to death all those years ago. 

You remembered the fondness you’d felt for a melancholy man back in Sydney, the man with the demure demeanor, the charming words; the man who you spent a month with, the man who took you on sweet dates, who wormed his way into your life like he belonged there; the man who fucked you slowly and graciously and cherishingly; the man who, at the end, had to go back to America, to the life he never talked about; the man who you wanted to explore a forever relationship with, but had offered you a job instead. 

“You love me?” you asked, vulnerability apparent in your tone. 

“More than anything in the entire world.”

“Then kiss me.” 

And Robert did, his hands sliding down your back to your waist, bringing you closed to him. This kiss was passionate, but patient and sheepish like you’d never kissed one another before. It was a sweet dance, all tongue and no teeth; curling around each other tenderly, desperately, like there was never going to be enough time in the world to express how you felt about each other, because you felt so infinitely. 

Your fingers carded through his hair, tugging lightly on his feather-soft locks, and his movements grew eager, gripping your thighs and pulling you onto his lap. “I’ve never wanted anything so badly as I did you,” he mumbled against your neck, pressing hungry kisses on the delicate skin. 

“I dreamed of this, in Sydney,” you told him, slipping off his suit jacket and unbuttoning his shirt and dress pants, “I dreamed of forever together.”

He shrugged off the many articles of clothing, then began unzipping the back of your dress without looking, “I dream of us and forever without an end: you are my ever-present thought.” 

You paused your movements, looking at him squarely - though not without allowing your dress to fall off your shoulders - and pulling him into another kiss. “How could I ever have been content with just fucking you,” you murmured, more to yourself than him, “when these are the things you say to me?”

Finally, the two of you were reverently tossing and turning on the bed, completely naked and completely feverish, not just in lust, but in dizzying adoration and love for the other. Then, he was on top of you, holding himself up by the arms. His leg slotted between your thighs, your soaking wetness practically dripping onto him, and he could’ve fallen apart right then and there if not for your arm digging into his left bicep kept him grounded in reality.

His hard cock rested against your thigh, and after a moment longer of watching eachother intently, memorizing each and every feature you both had, he spread your legs wide and pressed his fat tip plush against your clit, introducing himself slowly. 

“Is this okay?” Robert asked, biting his lip and reveling in how good you took him, even if it was just the head. 

You looked at him blearily, barely registering his question, mind already losing itself to the pleasure he was inflicting on your cunt; how, the slower he was with you, the easier it was to completely succumb. 

“Yes, fuck,” you ground out, squeezing your eyes shut and sucking him in, his groans growing louder as he pushed the rest of his length in. 

“Oh my god, oh my god,” you blurted simultaneously to his various noises of pleasure, your fingernails digging deep crescent moon shapes into his back. 

“Best cunt I ever fucking had,” he grunted, hands gripping the sheets beside your head for dear life. He stilled for a few moments, letting you get used to his whole length in you — yes, when he’d fucked you all those times before, he was so desperate to come he hadn’t bottomed out his entire length in you, which… had already filled you to the brim. 

“M’gonna,” he shuddered, feeling your walls bear down on him suddenly, “gonna move now.” 

You nodded breathlessly, arching into his touch as he set a steady pace. He would drive into you slowly, teasingly, almost torturously, before suddenly pulling out, then thrusting into you regularly for a few moments, and finally starting all over again. It would’ve made you mad, if not for how sweetly he was handling you: his hand stroking your forehead shyly, gaze flitting over you like you were the only thing left in the entire world. 

Robert leaned down to your bare tits, brushing his wet tongue over your nipples, which had grown sensitive and erect. At his touch, you let out a small squeak, “Oh, Robert,” you keened, rutting your hips up into his own on instinct.

You could feel him smile against your skin, and then, he slipped one of your nipples into his warm mouth, suckling loudly and making you tremble. His tongue devouring your tits, his hips snapping into you, his hands caressing you gently; fuck, you realized, it was all too much, but still just enough. 

The way Robert fucked you was absolute perfection, the way he ravished and pleasured your body was heavenly; divine. Sweet moans left your mouth as Robert’s pace grew more frenzied, your sticky cunt making a sick squelching noise whenever he pulled out. You were like a fucking suction; even your pussy knew how delicious Robert’s veiny cock was, and held onto him desperately. 

“You’re so beautiful,” Robert sighed, pressing his face into the nook of your neck, inhaling your scent. “Your are the only one for me— fuck— its you, and only you.”

Though your thoughts were growing foggier, only focussing on feeling pleasure, you still had it in you to beam at his words, your arms wrapping around his neck and pulling him into a close embrace.

“Faster, please, god, I adore you,” you said after letting go, a string of words barely coherent. Still, you thought that even if you’d not said anything at all, Robert would have understood, for he began sliding his cock in and out of you rapidly. His hands found themselves at your hips, and he began pushing you up into him as he slammed down into your cunt. 

His thrusts drew breathy moans from your lips, and you could tell how swiftly it affected him, knowing his cock made you shudder and whine like that, writhing beneath him, because he commanded gently for you to: “Look at me,” he said, and you obliged, taking in those sweet, wet blue eyes, lashes fluttering as he blinked. He wanted to look at you, and he wanted you to look at him. 

“I’m looking,” you responded, barely able to speak. 

“Good,” he said breathily, “I wanna know what you look like when you come.” Then, his cock began pounding into you, not cautiously and delicately, like he had been earlier, but insatiably, unable to think of much else but making the woman he loves orgasm. You could count on one hand how many times Robert made you come, but it seemed that’d be the only thing he’d be thinking about for the foreseeable future: devoting his time to making the odds even. 

His words made your insides twist, the knot in your abdomen growing larger; it turned you on much more than you thought it would, for the notion of him coming in you because he wanted to, because he wanted to fill you with his seed and mark you as his, not just because he wanted to release and didn’t have time to clean it up elsewhere. Suddenly, you found yourself knowing the difference between sex with kissing, and just sex.

You hadn’t realized how close you were, steadily building toward an orgasm when your brain has turned off thinking and let you melt completely into the ecstacy, and only really comprehended it when Robert mumbled, “Jesus, you’re so wet, taking me so well,” and his praise sent you off the deep end.

Honestly, you couldn’t describe how it felt. You could, however, do so in comparison to your previous orgasms with Robert. Usually, it would feel good, but like it ended too fast. You’d conveniently orgasm when Robert came in you, and he’d drive out his high in your cunt, then pull out immediately. If you’d had your way, you’d keep him thrusting until you couldn’t take it anymore, wanting to drag out your blissful orgasm as long as possible.

That’s what happened here. The heat that encompassed your body was unfamiliar, but damn well fucking delectable, making your body buck up uncontrollably into his cock. You were high on the pleasure, drunk on his length, and he knew this, still gliding in and out of you. Your climax was like entering a deep pool: it took you over completely, and was a little hard to come out of. 

“S’good,” Robert mumbled, not unlike he did earlier that day, but you knew it was different. “Your face look s’fucking gorgeous,” he commented, mind growing fuzzy as he saw your expression change throughout your high. 

Your hands found themselves back in his hair, and you tugged him slightly so you could whisper in his ear. “Thank you, Robert,” you spoke warmly, though still panting, “for loving me. For letting me love you.”

You swore you saw light tears well in his eyes, but you couldn’t be sure, because he cocked his head back, neck clenching and his mouth falling open as he released his cream deep into your cunt, flush against your cervix. He let out a low moan as he climaxed, thrusts still coming but considerably slower. It felt like he’d been coming forever when his arms gave out and he finally went limp, falling down beside you. 

“You don’t have to thank me,” is what he said first, peering up at you and brushing an eyelash off your cheek. “I’d have loved you no matter what you did.”

Now you felt the waterworks coming. How was it, that through such a strained relationship and broken examples of intimacy, did Robert know how to be so sweet? Or was that just him, just how his thoughts came to him; was it just his instinct and nature that made him so darling?

Weakly, you slip your arms under his, combining the two of you in a sweaty embrace. The room smelt like come and sex, the lights impossibly bright and beaming down on the two of you uncomfortably, but you could deal with it— and everything, so long as you were with Robert. 

“If only I knew sooner how cheesy you were, Mr. Fischer.”

“Well, you’ll have the rest of your life to keep finding out… Mrs. Fischer.”

[emmahasadhd]

Well since yall have brought my attention back to my post, I may as well add another, and probably cooler reference. In the end, when Holmes arrives and Kitty basically comes to save the day, the background music is shortened orchetral part of the finale of Don Giovanni, which shows Giovanni's downfall and death, as he is being dragged into Hell to be punished for his sins.

(I still love the first one mentioned more as the aria is one of my favorites from Don Giovanni)

Also I would've just reblogged, but it won't let me add the clip lol

And also almost full story explained below

Just to clarify the basic storyline of DG. The opera starts with Giovanni trying to seduce donna Anna. Well lets just say that does not go according to the plan and results in Giovanni killing Commendatore, Anna's father. Anna and her fiancé swear to have their revenge on Giovanni and not to mary until the former is achieved. Giovanni tries to seduce another woman later in the story, also while being pursued by donna Elvira one of his many former mistresses, who hopes he will come back to her. Giovanni doesn't want to, since he just wants to vontinue with his not really a boyfriend material lifestyle.

(Also reffering to the beginning, everywhere is said "seduce" I would think it is not about seducing as he is just trying to escape from her fucking house while she wants to unmask him. And I won't believe she is just "so much into him that she doesn't want him to leave". But yeah, that on your own interpretation I guess, since many stage productions put it simply like this. In my mind she just stopped her assailant and she hates his guts for everything he has done)

So the ending comes like this. Giovanni and his servant Leporello are at the cemetery. Giovanni sees the late Commendatore's statue and invites him over to dine with him. To his surprise and terror, the statue actually shows up and offers him a handshake. Giovanni accepting the handshake and refusing to repent dies, being dragged to Hell. Anna and her fiancé eventually get married, Zerlina and her husband are happy together and Elvira decides to join a convent.

The subplot with Zerlina, the woman Giovanni wants to seduce and Elvira I will leave out to simplify the story, as well as some other things. But if you are interested, look it up, youtube has many excelent recordings of the whole production.

(I would reccomend an older one though, since it usually portrays the opera set in the original time period and doesn't include conceptional and contemporary direction and scenic elements, therefore makes it a good starting point for opera newbies. Nothing against contemporarily produced performances, but if you want to get familiar with the source material and don't want to pre-read everything, those can make it harder to grasp what is actually going on.)

[sydsaint]

Hello darling I was wondering if you could write a Damian x reader fic where reader has a really bad bf (can make it another wrestler if ya want) and Damian gets into a fight with said boyfriend and then proves to her he loves her and is the better option and you find out reader always had feeling for him but was to nervous to say anything to him (some what based on ho hey song by limiters)

I hope you enjoy it!!! <3

Summary: The reader has a bad argument with her boyfriend, Giovanni Vinci. Damian intervenes, unable to stand by while reader gets mistreated.

You storm down the hallway with your boyfriend hot on your tail as you attempt to free yourself from his presence for a bit.

"Stop following me, Giovanni." You whirl around to face him with a scowl.

"YN, come on." Gio replies. "I said that I was sorry. What else do you want me to do?" He asks you.

You scoff and go to turn around and stomp off again, but Vinci catches your arm before you can move away from him. "I want you to stop ogling other women when I'm standing right next to you, dickhead." You yank your arm out of his grip.

"I wasn't ogling, Liv, I swear." Vinci attempts to defend himself. "I was just glancing around the room and she happened to be standing right there." He insists.

"You are so full of shit!" You laugh hysterically. "I saw you staring at her ass, Giovanni! The only thing that could have made it more obvious is if you started drooling!" You shout at him.

The commotion being aired out in the middle of the hallway earns itself an audience when one of the locker room doors swings open. Damian steps out of the Judgement Day locker room and locks onto you pointing an angry finger into Giovanni's chest.

"Everything alright out here, YN?" Damian makes his way over to your side to check on you.

"We're fine here." Giovanni answers for you. "It's none of your damn business anyway." He turns his nose up at Damian.

Damian rolls his eyes and turns to face you. "I was talking to, YN, asshole." He looks down at you with a soft expression. "You okay, YN?" He asks you again.

"I'm alright, Damian, thanks." You glance up at Priest and nod. "Gio and I were just having a disagreement is all." You assure him.

"Alright." Damian nods and backs off now that he knows that you aren't in any danger. "Hey, I was just about to run down to catering to grab a drink for Finn. You want to come with me?" He asks you.

Giovanni scoffs and reaches out to grab your arm again. "She's fine." He attempts to answer for you again. "Come on, YN. Let's go back to the locker room and talk about this like adults." He insists.

Damian grabs Giovanni's arm before it has a chance to clamp down on yours. He shoves Gio's arm back into his chest and steps between the two of you. "Try and grab her like that again and the only place you'll be going is the ER." Damian growls at Giovanni.

"Whatever." Giovanni scoffs and stares at you over Damian's shoulder. "Come find me when you're over this bitchy mood, YN."

You roll your eyes and watch Giovanni retreat back to the Imperium locker room to pout. Once he's out of sight, Damian turns back around and leans down so he can talk to you more comfortably.

"You okay?" Damian asks you. "Does he he all grabby with you like that often?"

"Only when he's in a bad mood." You grumble to yourself. "Which is more often nowadays." You admit. "But I'm fine, thanks, Damian." You smile at him.

Damian nods, thoughts of kicking Giovanni's ass crossing his mind as he looks down at you. "You can still hang with me if you don't want to head back to the Imperium locker room just yet." He offers. "We can chat some more if you'd like." He suggests casually.

"Yeah, that sounds nice, actually." You nod.

You and Damian take off and head down to catering so Damian can fetch Finn's drink like he said earlier. The two of you chat along the way, mostly about work.

"How long have you and Vinci been a thing, anyway?" Damian asks you while you're on the way back from catering.

"Umm, a little over a year now I think." You reply. "It's usually not like this. Gio's sweet, most of the time." You assure him. "We just...well it seems like he likes to argue with me sometimes." You sigh.

"Sounds kind of shitty if you ask me." Damian replies. "I mean, I don't mean to pry or anything like that. But you've seemed kind of quieter and more distant these past few months." He explains.

You unconsciously nod and bite the inside of your cheek. "Yeah well, being a member of Imperium isn't easy." You attempt a half-assed laugh. "Gunther keeps us all on a tight schedule. Anyway, thanks for talking with me Damian. Gio should be cooled off by now. But I'll catch you later, yeah?" You ask him.

"Yeah, anytime, shorty." Damian nods.

You head off to return to the Imperium locker room and Damian watches you go. 'Fuck! I am such an idiot!' he curses himself. 'why couldn't I just tell her how I feel?'

Later in the night, Damian and the rest of Judgment Day are heading out of the arena. Damian is loading up the trunk with bags when he hears arguing a few spaces away.

"I'll be right back, guys." Damian sets down his bag and heads off to find the source of the shouting.

"Why do you have to act like such a difficult bitch all of a sudden?" Giovanni lays into you verbally in the parking lot. "Just get in the damn car, YN! I'm done arguing with you!"

Damian rounds the corner just as Giovanni makes a move toward you. You step out of Gio's range and swat his hand away. "Just fuck off, Gio! God, I am so sick and tired of taking this verbal abuse from you!" You shout right back at him. "Go back to the hotel by your damn self! I'll find my own ride back." You turn sharply on your heel and begin to walk away with your bags.

"You aren't going anywhere until we settle this!" Giovanni steps forward again and goes to grab you.

You turn around to smack Giovanni but someone beats you to the punch.

Literally.

Your eyes widen in shock as Damian steps out from behind a car. You watch Priest reel his hand back before swinging it at Giovanni's face. Damian's first collides with Gio's jaw and Vinci reels back.

"What did I tell you earlier!" Damian puffs out his chest as he steps in front of you.

Seconds later, Finn and JD appear at your side, having been drawn in by Damian's yelling. "YN? You alright?" Finn sets a hand on your shoulder.

"What? Oh, Finn!" You jump before turning around. "What are you and JD doing here?" You ask him.

"We heard shouting." JD answers you. "Damian!? What the hell are you doing?" He turns to Damian who is now on Giovanni and trading blows with him.

The fight startles you and you shake a bit. "Can you guys separate them?" You ask Finn and JD.

Finn nods and beckons Dominick over from their car. Dom heads over and stands by you while Finn and JD break up the brawl between Giovanni and Damian.

Once the pair are separated, Finn drags Damian over to you and Dominick while JD keeps an eye on Giovanni. Damian calms down when he sees the worried look on your face.

"Shit! YN." Damian's expression softens. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just...well I wasn't going to let Vinci keep ragging on you like that." He tries to explain himself.

"I know." You nod. "It's okay. Thank you for wanting to help." You blink a few times. "Honestly? I don't know why I've put up with it for so long." Tears dare to spill from your eyes and blur your vision.

Damian recognizes the look on your face and pulls you into his chest for a hug. He rubs your back gently to soothe you while Finn helps escort Giovanni away from the group.

"You know that you deserve better. That's what's important." Damian comforts you. "You want to ride back to the hotel with us? I can get Finn and JD to get your stuff for you." He offers. "Then we can get you a different room to stay in."

"Yeah, that sounds like a start." You nod and pull away from Damian. "Thank you, Damian. I don't know what I'd be doing right now if you weren't here to help." You sniffle.

.Damian cracks a soft smile and hugs you tightly again. "I've got your back, hermosa." He assures you.

[llovelymoonn]

favourite poems of november

jesse patrick ferguson mama

a.e. stallings momentary

nate klug squirrels

fady joudah tell life

joyelle mcsweeney percussion grenade: "dear fi jae 2 (ms. merongrongrong)"

thomas james letters to a stranger: "mummy of a lady named jumtesonekh"

mukoma wa ngugi logotherapy: "i swear i see skulls coming"

kim hyesoon mama's expansion (tr. don mee choi)

nikki giovanni my house: "mothers"

harmony holiday gazelle lost in watts

calvin forbes mama said

marianne chan all heathens: "momotaro in the philippines"

richard speakes mama loves janis joplin

sara teasdale a november night

tyrone williams adventures of pi: "mama's boy"

reynolds price rescue

mary moore easter mama said...

frank stanford you: "faith, dogma, and heresy"

elinor wylie full moon

melissa johnson cancer voodoo: "mama's hair"

noor hindi breaking [news]

kemi alabi a financial planner asks about my goals, or golden shovel with cardi b's "money"

franny choi perihelion: a history of touch (this is one of my favourites)

james k. baxter selected poems: "wild bees"

kevin prufer black woods

evan kennedy the sissies: "(the) abashed"

jacob polley the house that jack built

primus st. john communion: poems 1976-1998: "after that"

frank stanford you: "freedom, revolt, and love"

monika sok bodhisattvas at the beach in november

kofi

[nicola-fiore]

Il tesoro mio —

It's been a year since we've gotten married off a coast in Maine, and a whole seven years since we met on the banks of this very lake. And yet, there are times, like today, when I feel like it might all be just a dream - because surely no one can be this lucky. Not only to be seen by such a man as loving and honourable as you, but to be loved by him, too. Then you go and hold my hand and I remember that a love as fierce as ours can do.

I thank God every morning and every night that He brought you to my life, and with you, our precious children. You continue to bring out the best in me when we're together, and even when we were apart, you've made me stronger still. I knew it then, and I believe it even more so now: there simply isn't any other soul out there I'd rather spend my eternity with than you.

Today, in front of our family and friends, I make the same promise I made to you last year, a vow I swear to carry with me, always.

My Gio. You are my love, my soul, my everything. Thank you for all that you are, for the happiness you've brought into our lives, and for loving me the way that you do. As God as our witness, I vow to stand beside you through thick and thin - to support your every dream, and protect you from every evil. I vow to be the best I can be for you and for our children, so that sadness may never step foot in our home. But should it dare, I vow that you will never have to face any hardships alone for we will never lose each other again, and that our love will see us always through.

I love you, Giovanni Bosco Fiore, and I vow to always love you, with every fiber of my being that not even death can part us. I vow today, and forever more, I am yours. Ti amo, tesoro mio. Per sempre.

[adarafaelbarba]

Saucy Saturday with the Carisi Clan? 👀

I completely forgot about this for a second, but I remember we talked in-depth about this, so I'll try to convert our notes into a hc 😅💕

Once a year the whole Carisi clan gather at his nonna and nonno's house (his dad's parents) for food, chats, and tomato sauce making.

When I say whole Carisi clan, I mean his parents, sisters, their husbands and children, aunts, uncles, cousins, and of course his grandparents.

The first year he joins after Nicky is born, he's excitedly talking about it when visiting the precinct for a case.

Amanda, though excited, is also worried. She knows his family adores her and the girls, but she knows how crazy they can all be, and with a new little family member? well, it might be too much for little Nicky.

So you jokingly suggest coming along as a nanny, to help with the three kids if need be.

To your surprise, and everyone else's, Sonny invites the whole squad and their significant other or child.

Joe looks on in wonder at all of this. He's not really had a big family. For most of it, it's just been him, his sister, his mother, and for the first few years of his life, his dad.

So to say he's shocked at being invited is an understatement.

But none the less, the upcoming Saturday, they all rock up to the address they were given on Staten Island, bright and early, ready for a whole day's work.

Serafina and her mother-in-law coming out to the door to greet them all.

"Captain Benson, how lovely to see you again. And this must be your son", Serafina says, looking at Noah who awkwardly says hello and offers to shake her hand. "In this family, we hug 🥰"

You and Joe were the last to be greeted as you stood all the way in the back, checking in on your best friend as the line went in.

"Hello, Mrs. Carisi", you said to the two women, giving them a warm smile, "I was raised never to come empty-handed, so I brought a few bottles of my homemade lemonade, where can I put it?"

The lemonade was a quick success, and several times you had to decline giving out the recipe, siteing it was a family recipe.

Joe was still a bit awkward at first. The amount of people there, crowding the house was almost too overwhelming to him and he contemplated making a run for it

That was until someone clapped him on the shoulder.

"You seem a bit tense, son, why don't you have a few sips of this beer, you'll feel right at home." It was Sonny's grandfather, Giovanni.

The older man was a good character reader, which was probably why he made such an outstanding officer turned detective in his time.

Joe gratefully took the beer from the older man and thanked him, "Thank you, Mr. Carisi"

"Call me Nonno Gio, Sonny tells me you're half Italian?"

And before Joe had time to think, he'd gotten emerged in a deep conversation with Giovanni and Dominick Sr.

Only when Sonny's aunt Maria came over, did Joe manage to get away. "Please don't fry the poor guy out, dad, he's not a suspect for the two of you to question. Besides, we need an extra pair of hands in the kitchen, y/n was put on babysitting duties 😅"

Joe is almost grateful to get away, although he won't get to spend time with you.

However, when he sees you, sitting on the floor with the kids, drawing funny images on a piece of paper for them, he swears his heart skips a beat.

When you finally get a moment away from the kids, you make your way to the kitchen to see if you can help with anything, and Serafina tells you to join Joe with the tomato-peeling. Your best friend immediately wanting to show you the way Nonna Elena taught him.

His arms wrapping around you as you stood in front of him, so he could best show you.

And you felt your face flush at the situation, the crush you had on him only heightening.

He was none the wiser at the effect it had on you, but was also so happy to have you in his arms like that.

At the end of the evening, and the long line of hugs that had followed, everyone were making their way to their cars, with two jars of tomato sauce each.

However, you and Joe were asked to stay back while the others left.

Well, more so him, since you were his ride back to the city.

He came back out of the kitchen with teary eyes, and a small notebook clutched to his chest.

"Jose? Are you alright?" You asked, worried something might have happened.

"I'm perfectly fine, thank you 🥹"

Once back in the city, you dropped him off at his place, and he leant over the center console, finally pressing his lips to yours.

"Today has taught me a lot, y/n and I--I want more than just friendship with you--"

You cut him off before he could finish with a kiss, smiling into it, "I want that too, Jose, more than anything 🥹"

~~~

Tagging:

@plaidbooks @storiesofsvu @cycat4077 @thatesqcrush @alwaysachorusgirl @im-just-a-mississippi-girl @bisexual-dreamer02 @misscharlielulu @xoxabs88xox @muchadoaboutcj @beatrice-san @meetmeatyourworst @thats-jaywalking @cursedashes @mysoulisasunflower @crazy4chickennuggets @imaginelover88 @beccabarba @itsjustmyfantasyroom @detective-giggles @guitita @ladylionstar @achataa @nessamc @peauxheaux @silversprings-mp3 @polkadotpenguin16 @pepperbstark @im-a-slut-for-this-man2 @chickensarentcheap @irishavengersassemble

Wanna be on the tag list? Fill out this form to be part of the team 🥰

[cartridgeconverter]

Don Giovanni characters as fountain pens

I have long postponed making this post as I was afraid it might convince me to spend more money. However, armed with a new sense of fiscal responsibility, I think I am prepared.

I've tried to have a range of prices that roughly correspond to the status of the characters, as well as many different brands. Honestly all of these are just vibes, but I've tried to give my justifications were I can.

Leporello - Sailor Profit Junior in Kohiru ($60 as part of a limited edition set, including other products)

I know I just said that I would try and match the lower-class characters to appropriately-priced pens, but look at it. It has a bunny on it. This is the best pen ever.

Don Giovanni - Visconti Opera Gold in Red ($348)

This is probably the only pen on this list that I would absolutely never buy, no matter how much opera-themed branding it has, because it is a ridiculous price and also looks stupid. But "ridiculous price" and "looks stupid" are both things I associate with Don G, and he would definitely be a Visconti whore -- it's a brand highly associated with luxury.

My other choice for him is also a Visconti model, this time the Divina Matte in Bordeaux. This is an even more ridiculous price, at $796. However, it is less obnoxiously red than the Opera Gold, so it is an alternate. He probably would have both anyway.

Donna Anna - Nahvalur Voyage in Shanghai ($130)

I have this one! She is beauty, she is grace. She is also very poorly designed but I forgive her for that. This pen is super elegant, albeit large, and is made from resin with real diamond flakes in it. I love the color also - black, with streaks of blue that show up under light. It reminds me a bit of Anna's costume in the Kasper Holten production. It's simply a very beautiful pen (with tons of design flaws and constitution issues, grr).

The Commendatore - Parker Jack-Knife with silver filigree ($5 in 1902, which is equivalent to $183 today)

This is a very lovely vintage pen from the Parker company, of which I scoured this ancient website for a picture (https://parkerpens.net/index.shtml). As an aside, this site is great; it's very well-kept and contains a detailed account of Parker models through time, with pictures. This pen, though gaudy, is exactly the type of thing that I think old men who do things like duels in the middle of the night would have. (Please work with me here, I don't exactly have a lot of content to go off of :P)

Don Ottavio - Sailor Pro Gear Slim, Shikiori Amaoto collection in Kirisame ($360)

Honestly, any purple Sailor will fit for Ottavio. They're generally on the smaller side, but the designs have an elegant simplicity to them. Also, purple. It's him! It's just him.

This will probably be the ultimate piece in my collection. It's such a lovely little thing, with a 21k gold nib. Unfortunately, I will not be purchasing it any time soon, due to my responsible spending habits.

Donna Elvira - LAMY Al-Star in Black Purple ($48)

Also another model I own -- I swear by Lamys as a great everyday pen. They're reliable and ergonomic, even if they're not as visually appealing as some other brands. The Al-Star, being made of aluminum, is a bit of an upgrade from their plastic model, the Safari with a slightly higher price. I think it's very fitting for Elvira, as a travelling woman.

Zerlina and Masetto - LAMY Safari in Savannah Green and Terra Red ($19)

The Lamy Safari is my favorite everyday pen to use, full stop. It's the same model as the Al-Star, but made from a lightweight plastic. They have a very practical and minimalist aesthetic, but it works, and it works well. They're super durable and apparently can survive being run over by warehouse equipment. I just think this model really suits these two, or maybe I'm biased since it's my favorite.

In particular, these are the two special edition colors made to celebrate the 40 year anniversary of the model, as they were the original colors to be manufactured. The green (which I own) matches Zerlina's dress in the IvH production, which is why I named it Zerlina to begin with. That seems to have been a good name - although filling the converter for the first time was a dramatic ordeal, it's been a reliable pen no matter how much wear and tear I put it through (the black paint on the clip has completely flaked off by now).

Hope you guys enjoyed this tenuous connection between my nerdy hobbies that was actually just a vessel for my rant about how much I love Lamy Safaris. I had fun putting it together, even if a few of these are out of my price point right now. Maybe I will do inks next, although I have put less thought into that.

Off of this list, I hope to eventually buy both Sailors (Leporello and Ottavio) as well as the other Safari (Masetto), although that's not a priority. I just like thinking about having nice things.

[teecupangel]

Just saw the Mermaid!Desmond post and it reminded me that i have been playing around with the idea that Desmond gets transported to the past as a mermaid(he prefers the term 'merman' thank you!). With my obsession with EziDes(i'm shameless XD), i imagined 2 scenarios:

1) Ezio meets Desmond in Venice and though at first Desmond is shy and hides away, Ezios persistence and charm wins him over. Desmond has the ability to launch some sticky "vines" from his hands to drag people into the water(based on what the mermaids in Pirates of the Caribbean can do), so he helps Ezio with assassinations from the canal. We could even have some drama where the Templars catch Desmond in a tank on land and when Ezio comes to save him, the tank breaks and at first Desmond is suffocating, then he is in immense pain while his body transforms into a humans. So good news: he can walk on land and even "sleep" with Ezio without risking drowning him(No Ezio, we are not trying it again!). Bad news: it hurts like a motherfucker to transform and it takes a hot minute. At least he can see Monteriggioni now!

2) The classic "Desmond takes Older!Ezio and himself to the past to save Ezio's family" but Desmond is turned into a mermaid(merman!) and is stuck in the disgusting river that runs through Florence. They get transported a day before the execution(Ezio just needs that scar, i love that connection too much XD), so they get a plan to bust out the Auditore family during the night and use a boat to get far enough away from the city before switching to a wagon. Giovanni is confused to what his son is doing("Why didn't you deliver the papers to Uberto, Ezio?"), but decideds to trust his son. During the trip, a guard almost raises the alarm but before he can, something whips out of water and drags the man in. Everyone but Ezio is shocked and when they get to the wagon, they see a small tub with water in the back. Before they can ask about it, they see Ezio lift something from the river before turning around and revealing a mermaid(MERMAN!) in his arms. Ezio is not leaving Desmond behind, no matter how difficult transporting him is(in this version i'd have Desmond need to learn how to shift forms, so for a while he has to be transported in a tiny ass tub if he was to follow Ezio around). The ride back is pretty awkard 'cause it turns out only Ezio can hear Desmonds voice(he speaks mentally, so even underwater he can talk to Ezio and the connection can reach pretty far).

.

We can also use Altaïr and the funny scenario of him being afraid of water, but still has a mermaid(for the LAST TIME: I'M A MERMAN!) boyfriend. XD Though Desmond would be very helpful for the guy that hides on the boat.

Maybe the treasure in Solomons temple started glowing after the entrance collapsed, distracting the templars enough for a hurt Malik and bruised Kadar to grab it and flee? And on the ride back to Masyaf, during an attempt to cross a river to lose the Templars on their trail, the treasure falls into the water, causing an explosion of light. Kadar was blinded by it, but Malik escaped the worst of it and swears he saw a large dark shape swimming away from the orb before he went to grab it. When he returns to Masyaf, with a dead arm and a mostly blind brother, he still blames Altaïr for everything that went wrong, but knows it could have been so much worse.

Altaïr is sent to find the traitor(the same as cannon), but afterwards is sent to the river Malik experienced the light explosion, to search for whatever came from the treasure. Altaïr curses Malik for his clumsiness, to lose the treasure in the river! If it hadn't been glowing it would have been lost. So Altaïr is in a very bad mood when he reaches the river to start his search. He is forced to spend days following it to the ocean, but when he reaches it, he sees something gold, glittering underneath the waves. Before he can try to even figure out how to get closer without having to get near the water, it moves upwards, revealing a strange creature. A half man, half fish spirit that looks like him, just staring at him from the water. They stay there, staring at each other before the spirit swims back under the water, dissapearing before Altaïr can even utter a sound of suprise. No matter how hard he searches the coast, the spirit does not show itself. Altaïr is once again forced to return to his master with another failure.

.

Phew, okay, this took almost an hour to write(i'm a pretty slow typer). XD Words just came pouring out during the Altaïr section. Lol

Additions to the ask from @thedragonqueen1998

Follow up on my Mermaid!Desmond ask:

I completely forgot to add in a description for Desmonds mermaid design. XD I'm a fan of the more spikier designs, so he'd have sharp fins on the side of his tail, a large one on his back, razor sharp claws and webbing on his hands and his ears would be fins. His teeth would be large and sharp and his jaw could almost shoot out like a goblin sharks one. It also opens wise enough that he can bite someones head off. His colouring would be a shiny gold that would dampen the more tired he becomes and the shine would fade if he is sick. So if he spends alot of time in the Venice canals his colours would fade quickly to Ezio's panic. XD He's fine, he just has the mermaid version of the flu.

Additions by teecup:

Desmond being a mermaid during Renaissance Italy would be so fun. Of course, Leonardo would have to paint him, maybe even call him the ‘Siren’ of Greek folklore, going as far as painting what looks like a lot like Templars as the people the supposed Siren drowns.

Centuries later, people would debate if Leonardo Da Vinci’s ‘Siren’ is androgynous or is actually male. Shaun has been part of that debate far too much.

Desmond probably has the habit of lifting his tail then smacking it down, making water splash all around the tank, an instinctive move that mimics humans saying their feet when they’re dangling.

There was actually an ask about what kind of merfolk design would each Assassin have but I can’t find it (as usual).

One of my suggestion for Desmond though is a tail similar to an angler fish like this:

Not exactly like this but a combination of this and your idea of sharp fins. They seem to glow but it’s more noticeable when using Eagle Vision.

Also… the water underneath Monteriggioni is a good place for Desmond to stay as well (although Ezio would be everything to renovate Monteriggioni to have a pond large enough for Desmond, it will become his priority even if they don’t profit from it XD).

If you want an alternative meeting, Ezio could meet Desmond in the underground waters of Monteriggioni while he was exploring Monteriggioni.

.

For the AltDes version, I’m just kinda imagining Altaïr would be too stubborn to return to Masyaf until he was certain what he just saw. He had already failed, he can’t afford to fail again.

Both because of his pride and because he had lost faith in Al Mualim and the Brotherhood too much that he actually believes that they would execute him if he failed again.

So he’s just camping there, staring at the waters.

Every time he feels like someone is staring back, the feeling would be gone by the time he turns around.

He had read about many mystical beings that live in the waters and Altaïr had started to write about what he can observe, even going as far as drawing what he could remember of what he saw.

If anyone was to see it, it would look like the ramblings of a man imagining something that doesn’t exist.

Or perhaps they would believe it.

Many people do believe in such rot.

Altaïr did not.

Not until he saw the spirit.

And now…

Altaïr was simply too stubborn to retreat.

He would capture the spirit and drag it back to Masyaf if it’s the last thing he does.

[silver-crowned-riders]

I need to start unfollowing all these criminals and evil teams yall are IDIOTS!

Except us. We're the ones who get it ^_^

( 500 GAZILLION notes )

🐲 route-1-full-evos Follow

Yo that guy doesn't have running shoes let's fucking kill him

( 173,688 notes )

R rocket-grunt Follow

Guyssss Giovanni in that new released court footage... someone help me... 🧎💘💔🚑

R rocket-grunt Follow

WINKING AT THE FUCKING JURY????? SIR

R rocket-grunt Follow

I KNOW he's saving a luxury ball just for me

🌲 nerdy-old-man Follow

None of these words are in the pokedex :(

( 309 notes )

🦔 super-duper-sonic-sandshrew-fan Follow

Hi guys I'm Timmy this is my intro post! I'm 10 and love video games. Team Plasma took me in when I was 6 and I haven't seen my family in years but I'm NOT brainwashed!!! I'm not!!!!! My Pokemon are my lvl 11 Tepig and my lvl 30 Rotom assigned to me that keeps a lookout on me :)

#intro post #team plasma #sonic the sandshrew

( 3 notes )

🐈‍⬛ devious-liepard Follow

Guys can we stop like having evil team leaders try to employ actual literal children. Like how are these kids on Rotomblr in the first place??

🌙 umbral-charm Follow

Okay I'm sick of seeing this post on my dash. The trainer's journey starts at 10 obviously these people can make their own decisions 🙄🙄🙄 you are the same people going on about Team Rocket letting teenagers become murderers its NOT A BIG DEALLL. Evil teams these days are so straight laced it's insane.

💀 layla-used-hex Follow

All of you are wrong I joined an evil team on Club Penguin when I was 9 and I swear whatever kid was running that was a bigger menace than Ghetsis. Leave them alone n they'll accomplish more than Giovanni did

💀 layla-used-hex Follow

Friendly reminder since this is making rounds again that the first two ppl here ended up being Faba sock puppet accounts. Because it's always Faba. It's always fucking Faba.

💰 black-market-posts-evaluator Follow

50,000 Pokedollars

#top reward posts #evaluated posts #trainers journey discourse #no arguments in the notes please arc I already had to deal with that on the last aq*a m*gma post for weeks

( 20,753 notes )

[mirkwoodshewolf]

You are who you choose to be; Eddie Munson x reader

Well this is probably the first update of the new year idk but this idea's been buzzing around my head over the weekend and it took me just a couple of days to write it all down. Now awhile back someone mentioned a SKY HIGH AU! With Eddie Munson, now that got me thinking 'hell yeah I loved Sky High growing up and yeah I love the idea of him potentially being like Warren Peace with fire but then again, what if I took it another direction, and made him a waterbender/bloodbender'?

I won't give too much away you'll just have to read on to find out but here you guys go. Now some warnings since this is a MA style of super hero fics.

Warnings: swearing, bad parenting, kidnapping, mentions of r*pe (not on reader or any of the main cast of characters but it is mentioned so just heads up), some angst, and a bit of fluff.

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things

@waddles03

@psychosupernatural

@gay-and-ready-to-cry

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

@queen-paladin

________________________________________________________

Lunchtime at Hawkins Academy was always a hustle and bustle.  Everyone in a rush to grab the first chocolate pudding cup or be the first in line to get their lunch and meet their friends.  But when those students all have some type of super-power, you know there’s bound to be trouble.

Thankfully I managed to get my lunch just before the first wave of students got there (minus those with super speed or teleportation) and I was the first person to reserve our table.  As more students came piling into the cafeteria I soon spotted the first group of my circle of friends.  I waved them over and soon they came over.

“Hey (n/n) surprised to see you here first.” Said Robin.

“Hey when it’s double stuffed crust pizza day I’ve gotta be first. Or at least be after the speedsters and teleporters.” I told her.

“I hear yah, although I don’t understand how you can stomach all of that grease.” Said Vicki.

“I told you not to eat the double stuffed crust at Giovanni’s. You eat that bad pizza and it scars you from pizza forever.” I reprimanded her.

“I just don’t see how either of you can stomach dairy products or anything meat wise. Don’t you know that I’ve been half of those animals?” Robin lectured us.

“Yes Robin we know.” Who would’ve thought that being an animal shapeshifter would turn a person into a hardcore vegetarian.  Even though Robin’s got this laid-back, snarky, sassy attitude, she can be pretty hardcore when it comes to vegetarian products needing to be enforced.  Hell I remember last year how she and Steve nearly tore their friendship apart from their Meat vs. Veggies menu planner for the school lunches.

“I swear if I have to hear coach Boomer scream at me one more time, I’m not only gonna need some hearing aids by the time I graduate, but a titanium skeleton.” Steve said as he and Nancy soon came walking side by side.

“The coach on your case again, Harrington?” asked Robin as they sat down.  Steve to Robin’s left while Nancy sat beside me.

“More than that. Think his last sonic boom he gave me made me throw my shoulder out. Probably gotta skip my next class just to go see the nurse.” He said rubbing his shoulder.

“So Nance, how’s your brother and his friends coming along so far?” I asked her.

“I’m told Mike, Dustin and Will got put into Hero Support while Lucas and Max were placed in the Hero class.”

“Damn, see this is why I hate the Hero vs Hero Support system of High school. Those boys have been together since preschool. And Max really got in with the guys when she joined them back when they were in 7th grade.” I said waving my spoon around before dipping it into my pudding cup and taking a big chunk of pudding into my mouth.

“Mike and Dustin don’t seem to really mind it. After all Mike still hasn’t really gotten his powers yet.”

“Still?” I asked incredulously and Nancy nodded.

“And I’ve tried working with Dustin’s powers but the glowing thing it-it—I’m sorry but it’s not a power. No matter how many times he says it is.” Steve said.

“Do you think we should offer them a place to sit here? At least for today?” I suggested.

“I wouldn’t worry about it. Seems your boy’s already heard the news and has offered a few spots at his round table.” Robin teased as she gestured behind us.  A few tables over was what everyone deemed ‘The Mizfitz table’.  A table where hero or sidekick could sit equally without the forced conformity being placed over them.

Running the table was one of the more infamous students known to Hawkin’s Academy, Eddie Munson.  On the outside he may look mean and scary with his many tribal tattoos, his wild, unruly mane that he calls hair, or the many rings he sports on his fingers.  But he’s one of the most powerful Water-benders this school has ever known.

I had seen for myself how when he was first placed in the Hero class, he actually managed to pull water from the air as well as from the plants that had been made by another student to create a water cloak (basically creating a barrier made of numerous tentacle-like arms).  However it wasn’t his Waterbending skills that got people talking, but his heritage.

You see while most of the students here are either the sons and daughters of either two heroes, or one hero and civilian, Eddie Munson was the child of both a hero and a villain.  His mother, before her passing in childbirth (or so I’m told), was known as Lunar Eclipse with the power to use the light of the Moon to push and pull the tides and bend water to her will.  His father, however, that’s what marred Eddie Munson as a villain to everyone in Hawkins, and not just here in school.

His father’s name was Alan Munson aka The Puppetmaster.  A man with the ability to control the water in another person’s body, enforcing his own will over theirs.  He ran the town’s deep underground criminal ring and got away with nearly every trail until the one that my Father actually worked on.  Thanks to him and his two partners, they were able to put Alan Munson away quadruple life sentences.

But even though it was my father’s ‘daytime job’ that put him away, the times I’ve interacted with Eddie were never hostile.  In fact he seemed glad to be rid of his father.  His uncle (who never got his powers) ended up raising Eddie after his father had been sent to jail.  And Eddie has said that he’s never felt more happier than he’s been since being raised by his uncle.

And I also won’t deny that for the past few years I’ve been secretly harboring a crush on the ‘bad boy’ of Hawkin’s Academy.

“Really (Y/n)? I can’t understand why you’re falling for someone like him?” Steve asked as he ate his banana.

“Oh leave her alone Steve!” Robin shoved him. “Let our little (Y/n) fawn for her blood-bending bad boy.”

“He doesn’t blood-bend! He hates it when people assume he does!” I snapped at her.  Everyone looked at me wide-eyed as I sat back down and felt my face burning up.

“Boy you’ve got it bad.” Nancy told me.

“Shut up! I just hate it when people judge him based on his bloodline. I mean hell Steve, just because you’re the son of The Commander and Jetstream didn’t mean that at first you were the humble idiot you are today.”

“Hey!”

“She is right. You were a douchebag back in the day before the whole Vecna thing happened our 3rd year.” Robin said.

“Yeah, and even when we were dating at the time all you talked about was yourself or which freshman you were going to give the first swirly to.” Nancy chimed up.

“Alright, alright yeesh. I know I was a real asshole back then. No need to rub it in.” Steve said as he went back to his banana.

“If you like him so much, why don’t you ask him out?” asked Vicki.

“I—I don’t think he’d ever want to go on a date with me.” I said fiddling with my pudding.

“Is it because of your dad putting his dad away?”

“Actually no, they talk pretty much anytime they cross each other. All on friendly terms, perhaps a bit too friendly.” Nancy teased as she poked me in the ribs to which I let out a squeak and punched her in the arm.  She rubbed her arm and I said to Vicki.

“What I mean is, I don’t think I’m his type. I mean he actually has powers, I’m just a girl who can do acrobatic skills.”

“(Y/n), you’re the daughter of Daredevil—” Robin spoke but I interrupted her.

“Adopted daughter.”

“Details. My point is, Eddie is like the King of non-conformist. If he didn’t want to date you because of your lack of powers, then he’s a hypocrite. And that’s about the worst type of villain you can ask for. Well except for corporate, misogynistic pricks that try to force women who they should love or what they eat.” Vicki took her hand and gently squeezed it.  Robin took a deep breath and rested her head onto Vicki’s shoulder and the two cuddled close to each other.

“Just think, that could be you and Eddie if you grow a pair and talk to him.” Said Nancy.  I turned over towards the Mizfitz table and saw as Eddie was being his usual animated self and the guys all around him were laughing at whatever story he was spinning.

“How can he also be so adorable just by getting animated when telling a story?” Nancy and Vicki giggled at my statement while Robin and Steve rolled their eyes muttering lowly.

“Oh please.” I kept my eyes on Eddie and I swore for a brief moment I saw him look straight back at me and give me a wink to which I blushed and gave him a small wave.

By the end of the day it was now my last class and one of the other classes I shared with Eddie, Heroism Athletics.  Today’s practice was the traditional ‘Save the Citizen’ where two people could either be Heroes or Villains and the heroes only had 2 minutes to stop their villains and save the citizen before they were killed.

So far the reigning Kings for the past three years were the Heroes Tommy Hagan and Billy Hargrove, however if you ask me those boys are far from what you would call ‘Heroes’.  Steve used to hang with Tommy back in the day and Tommy practically poisoned Steve’s mind with arrogance and ego.  But when Billy came along and knocked Steve as the ‘King of Hawkins Academy’, Tommy ditched Steve and teamed up with Billy.

And when it came to ‘Save the citizen’ those two did everything in the book to cheat.  Even when someone would call out to Coach Boomer about an illegal move, he’s merely brush it aside unless the attack was directed towards him.  Like before, Tommy and Billy were slaughtering the villains that were Mako and Bolin.

“Those brothers really do know how to bend Earth and Fire together.” Eddie’s voice soon came up beside me.  I jumped at the sudden voice to which Eddie raised his hands in surrender, “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No, no it’s-it’s okay. Yeah I was just lost in the match.”

“I get it. Now I’ve seen those brothers bounce back at the last second, hopefully they’ll knock those douchebags down a peg or three.”

“Yeah. God knows they deserve it. It’s not every day you see a horse with two rear-ends.” Eddie gawked and let out a laugh.

“Damn you’re brutal. Remind me to never get on your bad side.” We then watched as the brothers had been defeated and the citizen had been saved.  Tommy slamming the mannequin down to the floor like she was a football and chest bumping with Billy as the students all cheered.  I turned to see Mako help his little brother stand up and the two hobbled away.  “Looks like a healing session is in order for Bolin before Hellfire tonight.”

“Hellfire? Is that your band name or something?”

“Actually yes it is. Since Jeff and Gareth moved out of the state, turns out Bolin plays a wicked drum solo and Mako’s not half bad on bass. We’ve got a gig coming up this Saturday. You should come see us.”

“Really? You’re inviting me?”

“Of course. I mean it’s not the Garden but gotta start somewhere right? Plus we do get a crowd. Of about five—drunks. At least with you you’d be sober.” I laughed as Coach Boomer announced.

“Alright, one last round before we clock out. Hargrove, Hagan, Heroes of Villains?”

“Heroes!” proclaimed Tommy.

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” the coach muttered before saying in his normal loud tone, “Alright choose your villains.” The two of them looked at each other before announcing.

“Munson and (L/n).” My eyes widened as I turned to Eddie while Coach Boomer proclaimed.

“Alright, Munson, (L/n). Gear up!” Eddie and I stood up and we walked down towards the arena and put on the padding that was required for ‘Save the citizen’.  Once we came out onto the arena, we saw as the two of them smirked maliciously at us.

“Let me handle Hargrove, Hagan is all yours.” Eddie told me.  I turned to him and asked.

“You sure?” I remember how last year when Eddie and Billy fought against each other for a Hero vs. Villian exam, Billy nearly put Eddie into a coma.  He nodded and told me.

“Trust me, you don’t wanna go against Hargrove.” He rubbed his shoulder from when I had actually heard Billy break the bone that held his left shoulder in place.  “Plus, Tommy won’t expect what else you’ve been working on.” I softly grinned and we both turned to our Heroes as we stood side by side in first fighter’s stance.

“BEGIN!!” The clock began the countdown and the four of us charged at each other.  Billy flew in the air and immediately fired his laser eyes towards Eddie but Eddie created water tentacles around his arms and quickly sprung out of the way leaving Tommy and I to meet each other head on.

Tommy Hagan was a weapons specialist. Like any good back-stabbing son of a bitch, he always seemed to have any type of small sharp weapons hidden within his person.  Be it arrows, shurikens, small daggers and knives, and even flying ninja stars, Tommy is a force to be reckoned with, but when it comes to speed he’s not so good.

As he fired a few arrows toward me, I cartwheeled out of the way before doing a summersault and took out my dad’s old billy-clubs he had given to me on my 1st year here at school.  A little bit of extra protection he called it, plus it was like having the infamous ‘Man without fear’ being there at my side.  When he shot out five kunais in my direction, I used the billy clubs to block and redirect them before charging at him again but he shot out several more arrows in my direction.

Using the wall to my advantage, I leapt up and ran across and over it dodging any arrow that came my way before finally flipping gracefully right behind Tommy and finally got to use my secret move I had discovered at the end of last year.

Holding my hand in a snake-like position, I used my thumb, index and tall finger to jab Tommy right at the center of his shoulder which made his right arm go limp.  Then using my proximal interphalangeal joint of both my hands, I jab them into the center of his lower back, shoulder blades and the section where his neck met his spine.

Tommy let out a pained grunt with each jab until he collapsed to the ground and snarled up at me.

“You’ll pay for that you bitch!”

“Consider that payback for what you did to Mako and Bolin earlier.” We then heard a loud boom and I saw as Billy had Eddie pinned to the floor of the gym, his hands squeezing his throat about to choke Eddie out.  Eddie struggled to free himself but Billy’s enhanced strength was too much for him to handle on his own.

“You know the one way to stop me Munson, show them who you really are.” He sneered.  As Eddie’s choked out gasps filled the stadium I quickly threw my billy-club which made a direct hit to Billy’s head and even made him bleed.  He released Eddie as Eddie let out a series of hard coughs.  Billy raised his hand to his head and once he saw the blood, his eyes glowed red at me.  “You shouldn’t have done that, Princess.”

He then fired his laser eyes toward me but I summersaulted out of the way before racing up the walls once again.  His laser beamed eyes trailed close behind me until I had no choice but to jump off and stand on top of one of the higher platforms in the arena.  Billy flew up towards me and flew right through the platform obliterating it and sending me falling 9ft towards the ground.  But with my billy-clubs I was able to shoot one of the clubs towards the railing and swing down to the ground.

Billy landed with a large thud creating a crater beneath him and he cracked his neck.  He then roared as he charged at me but I flipped over him.  Blinded by his rage, I used it to my advantage and toyed with him until I saw my shot and repeatedly stabbed my PIJ’s up his back until he collapsed to the ground.

“I’ve seen the hardcore vigilantes be better heroes than you, Hargrove.” Suddenly I felt myself going towards the wall and saw myself being pinned by the ends of my uniform by three shurikens.  Tommy stood just a few feet in front of my and summoned out three more shurikens to sit between his fingers.

“I told you, you’d pay for that little trick.” He then threw his other arm outward and soon about a dozen arrows were heading my way.  That’s when an ice wall appeared before me and blocked the arrows just before they could skewer me like a shish kabob.  I looked to see Eddie had gotten back on his feet then he used the ice wall to create ice daggers and one by one fire them at Tommy allowing me time to pull the shuriken’s off my uniform and duck out of the way.

I took notice of the clock counting down and it seems to me that these two are pulling the same move as they did for Mako and Bolin.  Trying to tire us out to they can finish us off at the final second then save the citizen.  But what if we turned their tactic against them?  I raced towards the citizen but was stopped by Billy’s powerful fire blast creating a firewall between me and the Citizen dangling closer and closer to the razor pit.

“You’re not going anywhere.” He snarled at me.

“I have no need, I’m just getting started. Or are you feeling a bit winded, coming from you I wouldn’t be surprised. And I thought you’d be better than your old man.” The one thing Billy Hargrove hated more than anything in this world was when someone made him feel inferior to his father.  Billy let out a roar and fired two blue fire blasts from his hands to which Eddie surrounded us in an ice barrier.

“You’re really trying to push his buttons aren’t you?”

“Don’t you see, they’re trying to get us to tire out just so they can finish it all at the last second.”

“Like what they did to Mako and Bolin?” I nodded.

“Get us closer to the civilian, I’ve got an idea.” Eddie nodded then made us an escape route and allowed the water and Billy’s fire to create a large and powerful mist of fog.  So thick that hardly anyone could see the front of their noses.

And thanks to dad’s training, I was able to help guide Eddie through the fog with ease.  We got closer to the civilian’s imprisonment, I had Eddie create an ice platform right in front of the civilian’s chain then I told him to disband the fog.  With a wave of his arms, the fog quickly diminished around us and Tommy cried out.

“THERE THEY ARE!!” Both he and Billy fired their attacks but we quickly got out of the way and Tommy’s arrows pieced the civilian mannequin while Billy’s fire broke the chain and sent the civilian down to their untimely death.  Coach Boomer blew his whistle and proclaimed.

“Hargrove! Hagan! You two have not only failed to stop your villains but also skewered your civilian. You both FAAAIIILLLLLED!!” he sent his sonic boom sent them both flying across the gym.  “The winners our first set of villains since 1986, Edward Munson and (Y/n) Murdock!” the class cheered as Eddie gave me a gentle nudge and we waved to the others.

At the end of the day my friends and I all gathered at my house for a celebration.  Everyone including Eddie and the Mizfitz were all talking about mine and Eddie’s big win against Billy and Tommy.

“I seriously cannot believe you managed to knock my step-brother off his ass and finally put him in his place. I would’ve paid big money to have seen that.” Said Max as she reached over and ate some skittles.

“You guys really should’ve seen it. Her new ability is too cool that even Vecna himself would be petrified of.” Eddie praised.

“Eddie you’re too much. Besides it only works half the time. They still were somehow able to get up and use their powers again after a while. The first time I used it on some would-be robbers they could barely move.”

“You just need to keep working on it, after all you used it on normal humans. Not supers.” Robin told me.

“Yeah, yeah and the anatomy between the two is different, gotta find the right pressure points, blah, blah, blah.” I then heard the door open and the sound of a cane clanking along the wooden floors signaled to me that dad was home.

“Well this is a surprise. I come home after a long, hard-day’s work and find my daughter throwing a party without her old man’s permission.” The gang all turned to face my father but from the grin across his face, we knew he was just playing around.

“You’re hilarious.” I said sarcastically.

“If you think that, you should’ve seen me and your uncle Foggy in our college days. I was a riot.”

“Evening Mr. Murdock.” My friends all chorused out with a wave.

“Evening children. I take it from everyone being here in our small apartment that something big must’ve happened at school today.” He said as he took off his jacket and hung it over the coat-rack as well as placed his suitcase down beside it.

“You bet. Eddie and (Y/n) took victory at ‘Save the Citizen’!” exclaimed Dustin.

“Really? Last I heard of any new champions was when Hargrove and that kid Tommy became the champs. I take it you two were the villains in the scenario?”

“Yep. Not pissed about it are yah?” I asked with a hint of nervousness.

“You’d be surprised to know that I’ve played both Hero and Villain at Save the citizen in my time at school.” Dad said as he began to prep himself a sandwich.  “Oh by the way Robin, about that meeting you had planned to take with our PA Karen, she’s unfortunately going to have to reschedule. A case has suddenly come up and she’s needed out of state for this matter.”

“Damnit! Now where am I going to find a PA to interview in two weeks?”

“I told you yah should’ve tried to interview her as early as possible.” I lectured in a sing-song tone before taking a bite out of a salsa-dipped chip.

“Isn’t there another PA, oh what’s her name uhh—” Steve snapped his fingers trying to remember the name.

“I believe you’re referring to Jessica Jones?” my dad piped in.

“That’s the one! What about her?”

“Steve, if you don’t know Jessica Jones, you’ll know she’s not the easiest person to talk to. The woman is so hardcore, not even the cruelest Russian forms of torture could break her.” Said Lucas.

“Jessica Jones has a past and certain things happened to her that is her right to not speak about to others.” My dad stated using his ‘lawyer tone’.  “However Jones does owe me a favor, perhaps I could cash in that favor for you.”

“Seriously? Oh my god Mr. Murdock thank you! You’re amazing!”

“However I would take my daughter’s advice. Don’t hold things off till the last minute.” Suddenly the TV that we had on as background noise stopped playing the current show that was on and brought up the News Bulletin.

“We interrupt this program to bring you this urgent announcement. Earlier today, Former Crime Under-lord and infamous villain The Puppetmaster Alan Munson has escaped from his prison hold. 13 years ago Alan Munson was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences, possibility of parole after his third sentence. He was known as the Puppetmaster due to a rare ability known only to the Waterbenders known as blood-bending. Which may have been the aid he needed to escape his prison cell.”

As we all tuned out the news reporter, our attention turned to Eddie who looked unreadable but deep down I knew he was a mixture of emotions.

“Authorities have issued an urgent curfew until for the time being. No one is allowed out after sunset and must not be near any large bodies of water. Absolutely no one is to leave their homes after dark for this week a full moon arises, which is the only time Bloodbending can happen. If anyone has any news in regards to Alan Munson’s whereabouts, don’t hesitate to contact the local authorities.”

Yeah that wouldn’t really matter much anyway.  While it is true that Bloodbending could only happen during a full moon, Eddie’s father was one of those rare diamonds in the rough that could actually bloodbend without the need of a full moon.  That’s why he’s so dangerous and why everyone gives Eddie a hard time.  People at the school believe he has his father’s unique ability as well and try to egg him on to use it just so they can ‘prove a point’ (whatever the hell that means).

“I think it’s time you kids started heading home.” My dad spoke in his ‘Daredevil’ voice.  The guys all began packing their stuff and bid me goodbye, all except for Eddie who just remained still as a statue.

“Eddie?” I asked cautiously.  Slowly I walked over to him and slowly reached out and touched his hand.  He flinched back and looked at me, his eyes a mixture of rage and fear and he immediately said.

“I—I gotta go.” Without another word, he grabbed his stuff and raced out of the apartment.  I turned to my dad and he looked in my general direction.

“Things are already hard on him as it is at school. Now that word’s gotten out about his dad escaping, people will really be on his ass now. What do I do daddy?” Dad sighed deeply and came over to me.

“Treat him as you always have. You and your friends are all he really has outside of his uncle.” I looked down solemnly but I felt my dad’s hand on my shoulder gently squeezing it comfortingly, “But if I’m honest, I think all he’ll really need is you.”

“Did you have to go and listen to his heart?” I asked accusingly.

“Not really, even a blind man can see just how in love you both are for one another.” I groaned as he softly chuckled. “I’m gonna be out late tonight, don’t wait up on me.”

“Do you have to?” I asked worriedly.

“The city’s gonna be in mass panic, especially for the non-supers in this city. All heroes and vigilantes are required to make finding The Puppetmaster their first priority.” I nodded solemnly.

“Just be careful. I know you’re one of the rare heroes that keeps both identities of Daredevil and Matt Murdock separate to your enemies, but I don’t wish to be an orphan a second time.” Dad took my hand and placed it on his chest, I could feel the steady beat of his heart as he said to me.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to come back to you.” This was a common thing between us ever since he adopted me and I found out about his ‘other job’.  Most heroes tend to lie and say they are invisible and will come back no matter what.

However my dad isn’t like most heroes.  He can’t fly, he doesn’t have super healing abilities, or super strength, not even control over the elements.  All he is is a guy with enhanced senses that enables him to see the world even though all he sees is a ‘World on fire’.  He’s been trained in almost every style of martial arts but it took him decades of training and he didn’t get it right away like most heroes would.

And growing up with a dad who always burdened himself with ‘protecting the city he loves’ it put a strain on us for a while.  Until one day I got the courage to express to him my concerns and he didn’t reprimand me nor did I him.  I just wanted him to know that I was scared that I was going to one day get the news of Daredevil found dead in dumpster and that once again I’ll be alone without a family.

So this was our vow.  Since he taught me that there’s a spike in people’s hearts when they lie, whenever it came to uncertainty missions that required his attention, he’d place my hand over his heart as he’d speak that very phrase.  And every time he said it, there was never a spike in his heart.

I hugged him as hard as I could burying my face into his chest.  He rubbed my back and rocked me softly.

“I love you so much sweetheart.”

“I love you too daddy.” He kissed the crown of my head before finally separating from me and went over to his old wardrobe where his suit was kept.  In an old trunk that once belonged to his dad who was a well-known boxer back in the day.

I was currently in my room having just finished the rest of my homework when I heard a soft knock at my door and there my dad stood in his full Daredevil suit.  The red devil eyes from his mask had been known to send fear up even the darkest of criminals spines.  His billy clubs rested in a holster at side of his left thigh.

“Be careful, Daredevil.” He gave me a nod and said.

“Lights out by ten, and make sure to brush your teeth.” I softly laughed.

“If only people could hear the infamous ‘Man without fear’ tell his adopted daughter to make sure she did her teeth and got to bed on time.” I couldn’t help but tease.

“Probably would make them even more afraid of me.” He teased back.

“Child labor at its finest.” I teased again as dad softly scoffed.  He then used the fire escape and in his Daredevil fashion, he disappeared into the night and acrobatically scaled down the building before going on the hunt for the Puppetmaster.  “Love you dad.” And so I was left to man down the fort until it was bedtime.

The next few days, as I had predicted, were chaotic at school.  Due to the Heroes still not being able to find Eddie’s father, all after school activities were cancelled until further notice.  Which meant not Starlight Flying, no track meets, not even gymnastics (which I’ll admit I am bummed about but I get why they’re doing it).  And every student has had it out for Eddie.

Just the other day after the Big Championship game had to be cancelled between our rivalry school, Eddie got beans, mashed potatoes and chocolate pudding dumped on him by Jason and his lackies.  Before he could even start something, I held him back and told him they weren’t worth it.  They were trying to rile him up and get him to prove to them that he’s the monster they think he is.

And now all day today he’s been up on the rooftop gardens were Lily and the other earth-benders have their club meetings.  Creating new plants and practicing their Earthbending.  I found Dustin, Mike, Will and Lucas sitting outside their normal D&D room and asked them.

“Is Eddie still on the roof?”

“Gareth and Jeff just told us he’s refusing to ever come down. He didn’t even go home last night to his uncle.” Dustin told me.  I looked up at the ceiling worriedly before sighing.

“You guys get on the next bus, I’ll talk to him.”

“You sure?” asked Mike.

“Yeah. Besides Nancy told me you three have a big midterm coming up so I suggest you study. First semester Midterms are no joke, especially to first years. No matter if you’re in Heroes class or Hero Support.”

“Good luck (Y/n).” Will said as they walked off to the bus ramp to get back down to the ground (yeah the academy is actually levitated high up in the sky).  I went up the stair way that lead up to the gardens and there I saw Eddie bending the water within some vines, making them shift and move around the columns they were wrapped around.

“Do you have room for one more?” Eddie jumped and turned towards me but when he saw it was me, he calmed down and said.

“Knock yourself out.” I came over to him and sat down beside him on the bench he was sitting on.  He continued his bending until he just stopped and was deep in his head again.  I reached out and touched his hands, softly fingering around his rings and said.

“What’s going on up there Eddie?”

“My mother’s name doesn’t even matter. All anyone can see me is my old man’s son. The son of the infamous Puppetmaster. Believe me if I had the power to choose, I would’ve had my old man be a normal human who just ran out on me. But nope, I got the shortest end of the stick and no matter what I do, nothing I say or do is ever gonna change that!” his voice raised in anger as he paced while he ranted.  “I don’t……Sometimes I just wish I had died alongside my mother. Or better yet never have been born. She should’ve gotten rid of me when she had the chance.”

“Stop! Don’t ever say that!” I snapped as I stood up.

“Oh c’mon (Y/n) we both know that it’s true! My mother was assaulted by him, I am a product of a rape. Who could ever love someone like that?” a single tear secretly fell down his face as he seethed that self-hatred line.  “But since I’m too much of a coward to kill myself, I start to think fuck it. Why not just go down the path of a villain? Everyone else has decided that for me already.”

“Even though you have the power to go down that road, you’ll never take that step.”

“How do you know that?!”

“Because I know the real Eddie Munson. The boy who takes in the sidekicks who think they’re not worthy being in this school. The boy who spends his time feeding the stray cats at his trailer park, and not just them but the dogs you free from the underground dogfights. The boy who reads fantasy books and comes up with the wildest campaigns for his friends. That is the Eddie Munson I know.” And that’s the boy who I’ve always loved and will always love.

“What did you just say?” he suddenly asked.

“Do you really need me to repeat that whole rant I just did?”

“Just the last part.”

“That that’s the Eddie Munson I know.”

“After that.” After that? What’s he talking about?

“That you save dogs from underground dogfights.”

“No you said that in the middle after the stray cat feeding at my trailer park. I meant the very last thing you said.” The last thing I—oh god. Oooooh no…..please don’t tell me I actually verbally—oh shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Fuck! Fucking hell no! Please god don’t tell me that didn’t stay in a though bubble!

My thoughts were broken by Eddie cupping the side of my face, my eyes staring deeply into his chocolate brown ones.

“What did you say sweetheart?” I swallowed hardly as my heart began to skyrocket out of my chest and I choked out.

“I—I-I……” Eddie chuckled and said.

“You always were cute whenever you got flustered like this.”

“Are-are you making fun of me?”

“Not at all.” He brushed the strands of hair out of my eyes before slowly leaning forward and he whispered, “Just use your new little technique if you want me to stop.” I shook my head no and wrapped my arms around his neck and brought him down to my lips.

He let out a muffled grunt but his body soon relaxed under our kiss as his arms slowly wrapped around my back bringing me in close.  Ever so slowly, my right leg raised up as I tightened my grip around Eddie’s neck and he deepened the kiss.  I then felt him lift me off my feet as we continued to kiss one another until we were left breathless and drunk on our love.

We caught the last bus from the school and now Eddie was driving us back to his trailer for us to spend a little one on one time before the city curfew could ruin this perfect moment another second.  Our hands were intertwined with the other’s and we refused to break that bond, at least not yet.  Every now and then, he’d raise our hands up and kiss the back of my hand and I did the same to him.

But as we pulled up to his trailer, Eddie’s love-sick expression soon turned to dread as he looked upon his uncle’s trailer home.  My expression grew fearful as I too saw what it looked like.  It had been completely torn to shreds, the door was busted right off it’s hinges and the ground was soaked with mud and water.  Eddie immediately raced inside and I followed after him.

The inside didn’t look much better.  The furniture was turned up like the place had been burglarized, but nothing was taken.  The curtains and blinds looked like they had been sliced up by something and there were occasional wet puddles on the inside of the floor and carpets.  But what had us both fearful and enraged was that Eddie’s uncle is usually home by this time, but the trailer was like a graveyard, empty and silent.

Eddie slowly walked further in and grabbed an old picture of him and his uncle just shortly after he had been taken in my him after his father was imprisoned.  I could see that the glass frame was completely cracked but I could also see Eddie’s body shaking with rage until he let out the most gut-wrenching, rageful, and mournful scream I had ever heard out of a man.

I took Eddie back to my apartment and gave him a cup of warm tea but he just sat there with a stoic, broken expression on his face.  Tearstains glistened on his cheeks, his eyes bloodshot red.  I sat down beside him and slowly wrapped my arms over him and I placed my head on his shoulder.

The door opened and in came my dad.  But before he could greet us, he licked his lips and stood at attention.  I knew he could taste the salt from our tears and he asked us.

“What happened?”

“It’s Wayne.” I told him somberly.  My father’s brows raised in shock and he quickly came down over to us kneeling down before us.

“Are you both alright?”

“We—Wayne was already gone when we got there. The trailer was completely destroyed.” Dad let out deep sigh before kissing my forehead and turned toward Eddie.

“Eddie—”

“Another reason why I can’t stand heroes. They claim to be going day and night to finding my old man, and yet he hasn’t been caught. And now he has my uncle, the only person in this whole world that even gave a shit about me!” Eddie snarled lowly, hos body seething with rage and I knew dad could sense it a hell of a lot more than I could.

“I understand your frustrated…..” Eddie stood up from the couch and unleashed his fury.

“OF COURSE I’M FRUSTRATED!! My psychopathic bastard of a father escapes a prison that is supposedly impenetrable and made my life hell this past week! Now the one time I’m not there for my uncle he captures him and will most likely kill him and this WHOLE TIME THE HEROES ARENT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT WHILE I’M STUCK HERE AND YOU TWO CAN’T EVEN HELP ME!!” Dad and I stared at him in shock.  His rageful expression softened as he realized just who he was talking to.  He collapsed back down onto the couch beside me and said in a calmer, softer tone, “I—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap.”

I took his hand in both of mine and gently kissed his knuckles and I told him.

“It’s alright. You’ve been piling up everything that’s happened this past week inside of you. You hardly scratched the surface earlier this afternoon.”

“But I shouldn’t have taken it out on you or your dad.” He said regretfully.

“She knows you didn’t really mean what you said. And neither do I.” my dad spoke up.  Eddie let out a deep sigh and said.

“I’m just trying to understand why all of this is happening, and why now. But nothing makes any sense. And now—now that Wayne is involved I…..” tears once again filled his eyes as he buried his face into his hands, sniffling into his palms.

“Eddie,” my father started as he knelt down in front of him.  He reached up and grasped his shoulder giving it a comforting squeeze as he continued, “I know you’re feeling lost and frustrated right now. And it’s alright to feel that way, everyone whether hero or normal civilian feels something like this every day. Even Daredevil himself once felt this way when the Kingpin forced him to choose between saving his friends or his child.”

That was a day I never hoped to remember, it reminded me so much of the first time I came across ‘The man without fear’ back when I was a child and my parents were killed in front of me and I was taken by child traffickers.  They would’ve sold me to the highest bidder had Daredevil not found me in time.

After finding out I had lost both my parents and that I had no other family in the city to take care of me, I was taken to the orphanage and within a couple of weeks Matt Murdock came into my life and adopted me.  And the rest was history.  But when Fisk had found out about my father’s true identity, he had a villain named Bullseye take me and hold me hostage while apparently Foggy and Karen were being watched by the corrupt cops Fisk had under his belt ready to take them out.

“He—I can’t even begin to imagine what I would’ve done if that were me.” Eddie said as he took my dad’s story to heart.

“But he knew he couldn’t lose himself. He had to keep his calm and composure to try and work a way to save them both. And not only did he accomplish that, he also managed to put Fisk away for a long time with a proposition of his own.”

“Compared to my dad, Kingpin’s a saint. He won’t bargain anything or with anyone. How is anyone supposed to defeat him?”

“He’s been convicted and captured once before, not every villain is invincible. All it takes if for the right hero to stop him for good.” My dad stood up and walked over to the kitchen as he also told him, “Since your trailer is an active crime scene, you’re welcome to stay here. But I strictly advise you newly appointed lovebirds, no hanky-panky in this apartment. Don’t ask me how I’ll know, I just will.”

“Dad!” I groaned out.  He smirked and started to prepare us dinner.  After dinner Eddie and I sat on top of the roof looking out over the city.  My arms wrapped around his right arm while my head rested on his shoulder. “We’ll find him Eddie, one way or another.”

“I swear if he even lays a hand on him I swear to fucking God I’ll—” I rubbed his arm soothingly trying to ease his anger.

“One thing you should know is that my dad always knows what to say. I know you’re pissed, your scared, you’re high-strung. But all this tense anxiety won’t do you any good. Take a deep breath and focus.” He took a deep breath in before exhaling.  “I know we were too young when he was first arrested but, is there any place you think he’d take Wayne? Some place of meaning between the two of them?”

“I doubt it. They were never really close with one another even as kids. Even though Wayne was the older brother, since he never got his powers he was considered the black sheep of the family while my father was the prodigal son.” I nodded in understandment. “It’s getting late and the curfew is still in place. Why don’t you head inside?”

“You sure?” I asked.

“Yeah, plus I can practically feel your exhaustion.” I groaned quietly as I felt Eddie chuckle.  “Go on sweetheart, I’ll be there in a bit.” I looked up at him and we both kissed each other.

“I love you so much.” I told him softly.

“I love you more.” He softly kissed my forehead before I stood up and got ready for bed after a long, confessional and stressful day.

*Eddie’s POV*

Just as (Y/n) got inside, ironically enough it started to rain.  Of course to not people the rain was a nuisance especially to most heroes when it came to night patrols.  But to me, rain was life and a relief.  Mix that with the full moon that shone above the city I could feel myself feeling more alive than I’ve ever been in my entire life.

I realized at this point, I couldn’t wait any longer.  If the heroes weren’t going to do anything to find my father, then I would.  I went over to my van and grabbed a special bag that not even (Y/n) had known about.  I came back inside the apartment and unzipped it to reveal my graduation gift my uncle had made for me.

A traditional Waterbender warrior uniform (with my own modifications).  At the belt’s center design engraving instead of the traditional Water symbol, I had engraved a carving of the moon, the same moon carving that my mother once bore on her armor.  The sleeves I had torn off and had them replaced by black elbow-length fingerless gloves with the center forearm of the gloves wrapped up in war tape.

I also began to give myself the traditional war paint of the waterbenders.  Black markings under my eyes and the symbol of water at the center of my forehead.  I then pulled up my face mask to cover the lower half of my face because in order to find my father, I was going to need to get in touch with some of his old friends, and I couldn’t risk them seeing my face.  But there was one last thing I needed to do.

I went into (Y/n)’s room and saw her deep asleep as the brief flashes of lightning lit up her room.  I silently walked over to her and gingerly brushed the strands of hair out of her face and saw her left hand resting not too far from her face, her palm exposed.  I took off my wolf fang necklace and placed it into her palm.  Truthfully I don’t know if I will come out of this alive or not, but what I have to do in order to save Wayne, I’d rather her remember me as I was instead of who I’m about to become.

Having just confessed our feelings to one another only to lose her now, that’s the damage my father brings out in people.  But I don’t want her to be involved in this anymore than Wayne is now forced to be in.  I saw as her palm closed over my necklace and I whispered to her.

“I love you sweetheart, always remember that.” I then went back to the roof and took a deep breath in before exhaling and waved my arms around to have the rain water spin around me before I shot out into the sky, a flash of lightning coming down then I used the rain to forge a water patch for me to jump across.  Each step I took, water formed under me until I was running on the raindrops.

I soon came to one of my dad’s old dealers Yakone.  Yeah I may have been a kid but my old man certainly liked to take me out to all of his dealings and I got to meet every single bloodbender, drug dealer, and crime boss this city had to offer.  I peeked inside the window and saw Yakone counting up his money even though he had just gotten out of prison and was currently on parole.

Once a crime boss, always a crime boss.  I used my power to spill his whiskey across the counter which forced him to stand up and walk out to get something to clean up the mess.  Once he was gone, I slipped inside his office and waited.  The second he came back in, he froze on the spot before suddenly jerking his arm up.  He groaned as his arm soon shot to the left then the right, his bones snapping with each jerk until he was forced to bend forward.

I made myself known with my left hand in a knife-hand position at my face level before lowering it downward while at the same time his body fully went down to the ground.

“You’re going to tell me where Wayne Munson is and don’t even think about lying.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” sneered Yakone.  I took a step forward and pushing with my other arm as I extended it, Yakone’s upperbody was forced upward and I snapped at him.

“You were once Alan Munson’s second in command. If he ever broke out of prison, the first person he’d go to is you. I won’t ask a third time; where. Is. Wayne Munson!?” Yakone continued to groan in agony as I bloodbended him.

“Tenth and Cicero X! He took that nonbender of a brother of his to the docks along Tenth and Cicero X!” I narrowed my eyes and with a wave of my arms, he was throw across the room, his back hitting the corner of the wall and he let out a pained groan.

“If I find out he’s not there, you won’t have to worry about the heroes finding out about your parole breaking. Cause I’ll see to it that you will be stopped permanently.” Then I used my Bloodbending to knock him out before finally leaving the scene as if nothing happened.

I stood along the rooftop of one of the buildings that overlooked the docks of the city and saw the old warehouse where Yakone said Wayne was being kept hostage.  I could see guards patrolling around the warehouse all either carrying guns or specialized arrows.  Odd that my old man would hire assassins and non-benders to guard my uncle, but no matter they’ll be out of my way soon enough.

I snuck my way down the fire escape of the building and crept up towards the warehouse before diving head first into a bay.  I created a water-helm for me to breath as I swam towards the edge of the warehouse.  I then summoned out a water tendril and reached out for one of the guards and pulled him out into the bay.  I then created a whirlpool tornado and shot myself upward.

“OPEN FIRE!!” one of the guards called out and a hellfire of guns and arrows were shot at me.  Creating an ice barrier I shielded myself before coming down with a back axe-kick which caused the whirlpool to follow me and push half of the men into the street knocking them out.

Using the remaining water, I created a water whip and proceeded to fire ice shards at the rest of the men.  Knocking their weapons out of their hands and then piercing them to either the walls or old shipping carts.  When the first set of guards I had knocked out started to get up, I proceeded to bloodbend all of them stopping them in their tracks.

Forcefully controlling them to stay where they were and getting down on their knees when suddenly I felt something metal hit me in the back of my head forcing me to release them.  I reached behind me and felt blood on the back of my head and I heard the sound of someone landing in front of me.  From the light of the full moon there was no denying who the man in the red suit was that stood before me.  One billy club in his hand, the devil helmet and those piercing red eyes from the mask staring at me.  The Man without Fear aka Daredevil had come.

“You need to back off.” He warned me in the voice that had been known to send shivers down any criminals spine.

“And you shouldn’t interfere with family affairs.” I seethed back at him.  I formed water tendrils around my arms and went on the offense but Daredevil proved to be just as fast as me, if not faster.

“You’re making a mistake.” He told me.

“You made the mistake by coming here!” One of my tendril arms froze over as I went to skewer him but he dodged out of the way forcing the ice shard to pierce through the asphalt of the street.  I broke my arm free of the ice and dropped the other tendril before stepping into a front stance and held my arms parallel of each other to use the rain to knock him off his feet but once again Daredevil’s agility was something.

Each time two waves of water tried to knock him down, he was able to either to flip between them, roll underneath them, or bend so far back against the ground there was no chance of the water touching him.  I growled impatiently and charged at him this time.

However only just two punches he not only dodged them but got me to my knees and had my in a chokehold.

“First rule of combat, never attack in anger.”

“I’m not angry! I’m annoyed there’s a difference!” I snapped as I tried to break myself free from his grip but he held firm.

“I can tell, but that’s the first rule they teach in combat. Now listen to me, you can still turn back. Let me finish the job and you can be reunited with your uncle by morning, your father will go back to prison, and all of this can be put behind you.”

“It won’t matter.”

“Yes it will. You’re young, you have a future to look forward to, you still have a choice. But if you cross this line, the journey back isn’t easy. Trust me, I know.” Looking down at the water I did a few finger flicks which caused a water whip to wrap around his neck and pull him off of me.  I then used my Bloodbending to keep him in place.  He let out a cry of agony as I forced him to stand at attention.

“It’s already too late, I’ve made my choice. One way or another, Alan Munson is dying tonight. He crossed the line when he kidnapped my uncle, who’s to stop him from going after my friends? My—” I trailed off thinking about (Y/n).  The torture alone that my old man could put her through, especially since she doesn’t have any powers to fight him back with.  “If he ever got to her, I’d never forgive myself.”

“Got to her ehh?” I tensed as I released Daredevil and turned to see the man I’d hope I’d never see again.  His hair was longer and madded and the eyes I inherited from him were soulless and cold.  He somehow managed to find his old armor once again and in his grip, he had Wayne levitating in the air.  “Now this I’d love to hear more of, especially if you did all of this for your excuse of an uncle.”

  My heart was pounding in my ears as my blood boiled in rage.  Extending my arms outward in a T position but with my hands standing upward, I made the rain pause around us and slowly form a shield around all of us.

“Release him.” I ordered.

“Or what little man? You gonna kill me?” the Puppetmaster mocked.

“If I have to.” I said soullessly.

“Sounds a bit dark for the son of Lunar Eclipse. But if you were my son, you’d do it without hesitation.”

“Eddie…..don’t do it son.” I heard Wayne groan out.  “Even if you do attack, he’ll use me as a shield.” He said again.

“He’s telling the truth.” Daredevil soon spoke.

“I can protect him.”

“You’re blinded by rage and won’t be able to stop it in time!” Daredevil spoke up again.  “Your uncle raised you to be a hero, not a murderer!”

“I’m already a murderer.” I soullessly stated referring to the men I had just taken out.

“They’re still alive, I can hear their heartbeats. Your father knew those men wouldn’t be worth your time because he knew the only one you were willing to kill was him.”

“Eddie, son listen…..” my uncle strained out.  “Take a good look at the man standing before you, is this the man you’ll want to become if you do this? Because you were the one to break the chain and not be like him ever since you were born. You chose to walk away from his path and choose your mother’s.”

“Listen to your uncle Eddie Munson, you’ve got people who care about you, even love you. One of them especially. Your father, he has no one. No one to call family, friends or even a partner to love and cherish. If you do this, you’ll never see any of your friends or your beloved again! So don’t. Do it!” My body trembled in rage as I stared daggers at my old man.

I waved my arms and let out a rageful cry as the shield dropped and formed into a thousand ice sharps varying in size and flew right towards him.  But just as some pierced the ground and Wayne’s body was moved directly in front of my father’s, I stopped the attack.

The ice shards floating in mid-air before I stood there in the rain and the ice shards immediately turned back into water, drenching both my uncle and father.  My father tossed Wayne aside as Daredevil went over to check on him as my father said to me.

“Even with all the power in the world, you are still weak.”

“You’re wrong.” After 13 years, I was able to stare my father down not in fear and surprisingly not in rage (at least anymore).  “I always wondered just what kind of man you are to have done the things you’ve done. Now that I see, I think I understand. There’s just nothing inside of you, nothing at all. You’re pathetic, sad and empty. And as much as I hate you—I just can’t find it in me to kill you. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t come prepared.” Next thing he knew, he was trapped by a zero anti-gravity forcefield and the entire Heroes Council soon came on the scene.

“Alan Munson, you are under arrest by the City of Hawkins.” Proclaimed Chief Hopper.  Ms. Byers and Robin’s mother soon came up and put my father back in chains and guided him towards the police car.  I closed my eyes and felt a huge weight being lifted off my shoulders but there was still a sliver of doubt floating in my mind.

As the night droned on, I found myself back at the Murdock’s apartment, the rain finally subsiding and I knew in a few hours dawn would break.  My uncle had been taken to the nearby hospital for a healing session and to give his statement to further incriminate my father’s quadruple life sentences.

“I’m proud of what you did back there. You even managed to fool the Devil himself.” I heard Daredevil say behind me.

“I wanted to do it. I wanted to take out all my anger at him but—I couldn’t. I don’t know if it’s because I’m too weak to do it or—due to the people that I have in my life, it’s given me the strength not to go down his road.”

“You did the right thing tonight Eddie Munson. Forgiveness is the first step you take to begin healing.” I stood up from the edge of the balcony and walked over to him and told him.

“But I didn’t forgive him. I’ll never forgive him for what he did. In a way he did win,” I looked down at my hands.  “I swore that I would never use his taboo art of Bloodbending but—I did. I…..don’t know if I…..” I soon felt arms wrap around me.  When I looked up, I found myself surrounded by red and I was surprised to see that the infamous Daredevil was hugging me.

I surrendered to his embrace and hugged him back as I softly began to cry.  Now that my anger and rage was gone, the sorrow, the guilt and shame was all that remained in me.  And I finally let it all out and Daredevil not once tried to get me to stop or tell me to suck it up.  In fact he didn’t say a word, he just allowed me to fully let it out until my tears were finally spent.

[gorbalsvampire]

What are your top 3 favorite clans? Either to make a character for or to use as a Storyteller? :3

Oooooooh, thanks for asking! I'll do these in reverse order, build up to the best.

Number three: Malkavian

My original faves, and a clan about whom I have some sTRoNg oPiNIoNs. See, the thing with Malkavians is that for years and years and years it felt like nobody thought for two minutes about how the rules for Derangements work. Too many Malks were played as hapless victims of their insanity, driven to ooky-kooky comic relief bullshit behaviour or dark tormented scary deep mental anguish all the time - and that's not how it works. The Malkavian Derangement was incurable, as in it would never be removed - it was not insurmountable!

Derangements could be overcome through the expenditure of Willpower, scene by scene. Willpower could be recycled through a careful choice of Nature and Demeanour to indulge. Malkavians were about powering through, being a dangerous and cogent master of the mind whammy, surfing your own mind's wild tides with gritted teeth and every now and then, when it didn't matter so much, when you had the luxury of rest, unclenching your jaw and letting the madness take you.

Therese Voerman is my poster girl for what a Malkavian should be: she's competent, ruthless, and clearly has problems that she's keeping under control through sheer cognitive heft/letting Jeanette out to play when it's all too much.

Anyway. Malks. Love the Disciplines, love the Network, love the visions, love the savagery of a well done, targeted prank. V5 moving them away from "a specific instance of mental illness with oversimplified game rules" and toward "chronic mental overstimulation which manifests as a consistent game rules penalty" is a subtle change but a good one. None of my games feel complete without at least one Malkavian.

Number two: Lasombra

Elegant, classical, lordly, and aggressive. None of the subtlety and resilience of their Ventrue arch rivals: the Lasombra will break you in body (Potence) mind (Dominate), or both (Oblivion), and if you're mortal and you impress them, they will make you rise again.

I love the existential, spatial, cosmic horror of Obtenebration; I love their connection with the ocean and their warring against themselves over and over (and yet with an oversight body that transcends the lines of conflict); I love the hubris that swears they destroyed their Antediluvian and how that's come back to haunt them in V5.

They make great antagonists - I've always felt that in OG Masquerade especially, the Sabbat pillar clans' Disciplines were designed to enable cool boss fights, and being thrown around by a shadow monster or enveloped and consumed by a roiling tide of darkness... mmmm... sorry, I was supposed to be talking about tactical challenge, but then I got to thinking about how sexy Lasombra are and... look, check my intro post, Ib from LABN nailed the archetype and frankly she could nail me too.

Number one: Hecata

Always and forever. The OGs. Every incarnation of them has delighted me. Necromancy and vampirism walk hand in hand for me (I was a Warhammer Undead guy before I was a Vampire: the Masquerade enby). The Cappadocians are patient, thoughtful, genteel court wizards who get done dirty (by their mediocre "here to go!" Clanbook as well as by the Giovanni) and come back SCARY/become something new in hiding. The Giovanni are delightfully loathsome literary-Gothic villains - seriously, they're rich decadent incestuous black-magic loving Italians? did Anne Radcliffe write for V:tM? - AND sassy East Coast gangsters with a sorcerous twist.

They aren't perfect - the Family Reunion creaks with artifice, the Nagaraja shouldn't exist be there, there is no WAY a skyscraper in the middle of Venice is acceptable world building, the Nayson San An are one of those early WW concepts that's always going to be stained by racism, and what's been done to Necromancy over the years, from a rules bloat/design standpoint, is a bloody shambles.

I think a lot of what I love about them comes from me rather than from the developers. I've put a nonzero amount of thought into who ended up where vis. Reunion, Chamber, Council, into the history of Venice and its involvement with the Fourth Crusade and the collapse of Constantinople's Dream, into reinvigorating the gangster stereotype and into the history of Scottish banking and slave trading... but! but! no other clan has ever inspired me to do so many deep dives, to commit to such bits as "how do you make a Giovanni who can just hang out with any old coterie and you'd barely even know he was a Giovanni?"

The bottom line is that I like concepts with flaws, because flaws inspire creative fanwork. I yearn to work a problem, and the Hecata are raddled with problems. Marbled with them, like a tasty steak - they just need proper preparation to be served.

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 40 – Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

Okay, 40th book of the year! And yes I’m going to be smug about that, no matter how pathetically it pales in comparison to some of the rest of you. To commemorate the occasion I decided to acquire some actual Culture of the kind I can talk about reading to older relatives and have them nod approvingly. I’d say I wish this had been assigned in some English class I took, but honestly I’d have just ended up skimming and using sparknotes and generally ruined it for myself.

Baldwin, as it turns out, really does live up to the hype. This book was absolutely sublime. I feel like it’s going to be impossible to be fair to whatever I read next.

The book follows David, an American expat in late ‘50s Paris. Specifically, a queer man with truly apocalyptic levels of internalized homophobia and lack of self-awareness spending his late 20s valiantly pretending not to be gay while contriving every possible excuse not to go back to his father and the rest of his life in America. The book takes place while his girlfriend is taking an extended vacation in Spain deciding whether she wants to marry him, and he meets Giovanni, a gorgeous Italian man who’d left his village and ended up in Paris under unclear circumstance, while he’s working at a gay bar David views with visceral contempt even as he visits it. They have a passionate romance, and unsurprisingly it all falls apart in a mess of a tragedy that ruins just about everyone involved (Giovanni most of all).

This was the most beautiful thing I’ve read all year. I’m not even sure it’s particularly close. Every single page had a line or two of incidental narration or dialogue that struck me enough to want to save it – I’d given up trying to note them all by the end of the first chapter. The narration has the sort of elevated, literary quality where everyone is two or three times more eloquent and articulate than they really should be, but when the things they say are so lovely it’s hard to mind that minor offence against verisimilitude – the constant peppering of French into everyone’s dialogue is honestly much more of an annoyance, if only because it keeps making me wonder what language all the other dialogue among these French Parisians is supposed to be in. The exact details of their speech (and tendency to monologue about the details of their psychology) aside, just about every character felt really, achingly real, all broken by the world in one way or another and dealing with it with whatever self-destructive coping mechanisms they have to call their own. Insert your favourite Richard Silken quote here.

Tangentially to the actual content of the book; I of course know Baldwin was one of the canonical Great Authors of the 20th century (I knew this before I knew literally any other fact about him), but my god does the edition I have of the book lay it on thick. There’s a 17-page forward that seemed to be an incredibly dryly written English essay talking about his influences and the role of Paris in American literature and etc (I skimmed the first few pages and skipped the rest, as is my habit with forwards by people who had nothing to do with actually creating the book and whose name I don’t recognize), followed by several more pages of a timeline of the authors life. I swear it’s like they’re trying to make reading this seem as much like homework as possible.

Even more tangentially; I was aware that Baldwin was gay, before reading this, and more vaguely aware that some of his work explored this. But I was expecting more, like, Great Gatsby-plus levels of subtext, not just explicit and unsanitized portrayals being the focus of the entire book. That came out in ‘59! Not exactly an obscure or reviled one either. I feel like I could go back and retroactively give myself permission to sneer and roll my eyes at a lot of ‘grounbreaking queer representation’ now. (This is a sign I have spent altogether too much of my life reading discourse on tumblr and tiwtter).

Trying to talk about the themes of Giovanni’s Room is probably just wasted effort – spend five minutes and I’m sure you can find an extensively researched essay by someone whose devoted years of their life to the subject. But it did really strike me how, like, fundamentally inegalitarian the book’s vision of romance is? Aside from David and Giovanni themselves I mean (and even then, David’s internalized homophobia expressed itself in large part through a terror and resentment of being made the woman (domestic homemaker) to Giovanni’s man (breadwinner)). David and Hella’s relationship is just drowning in ‘50s patriarchy, of course, with the future they sketch out for themselves both baldly hierarchical and just incredibly bleak, and David’s parents and upbringing aren’t exactly inspirational reading either. But Paris’ gay underground isn’t exactly portrayed as a liberated and welcoming space – it’s disgusting older men blatantly exploiting and being exploited by desperate younger ones, everyone involved pretending they don’t know what they’re doing and hating themselves and each other for it. All just incredibly unsentimental and anti-romantic.

David as a character and as a narrator really was fascinating, too. In that he’s such a fucking mess with zero awareness of his emotions who keeps making everything worse and seems to almost cause as much heartache for everyone around him as he possibly could. If he wasn’t the protagonist he’d be the most loathsome character in the book, or at least close to it. Was great.

Though one thing that really does drive home how historical the setting is is just how coincidental so many social meetings are. The cast is largely a bunch of bohemians and vagabonds and expatriates without real fixed addresses, and so much of their interaction revolves around just happening to run into each other as they frequent some of the same locales. Which, like, yes, that is just how socializing worked for most people until a historical ten minutes ago, but still very alien to me, someone with an electronic correspondence planning and scheduling ~90% of social things I’ve done since I left school.

Anyway yes, this isn’t an easy read – most emotional and heartwrenching thing I’ve read all year by far, and the only thing last year I can really think of that might beat it is the final chapters of The Making of the Atomic Bomb – but it really is a beautiful one. Five stars.